Echoes Of Time: The tale of a new born hero
by Charlie Darkheart
Summary: A mixture of game player and storytelling, all surrounding our hero of the tale, Meeth Crym. Taken from her life in the village, long before she met Sir Latov and the gang. With 10 chapters currently completed and uploaded, the story promises to be interesting and giving a somewhat new light, which the game never truly covers. Please stick around as the journey unfolds each month.
1. Chapter 1: It all started with a dream

**Chapter One: It all started with a dream**

The morning sun light shone brightly through the branches of the trees within the forest. All seemed well. Until suddenly the sounds of feet running through the grass could be heard. Then a young girl dressed in a white gown appeared, sweat dripping down her face as she gasped for air; her pale hair waving around her.

Behind her an older man, wearing glasses and a black hat, walked calmly: a crocked grin upon his blurry face as he stalked the girl. He knew there was no reason to rush, the girl, though young, would tire eventually; or at least collapse from exhaustion.

The young girl continued to run, fearing for her own life. Despite her best efforts, the man was drawing closer. It was only a matter of time before he caught her, and when he did, that was game over. Just as the thought left her mind, she tripped, letting out a gasp of shock. _No!_ She thought to herself. _Not now! Not yet!_ She tried to push herself upright, but she'd twisted her wrist in the fall, causing her to wince in pain. As she looked over her shoulder, a shudder ran down her spine: the man was now standing over her. She let out another gasp.

The man's wrinkled hand reached out towards the girl, grabbing her hair. He let out a deep and mocking laugh, finally, he had caught her. As he laughed, his body began to smoke, when he realised this, he looked at his free hand with an exclamation of surprise. He then looked up in awe: before him, hovering above a lake, was a large crystal, the largest he had ever seen. He released his grasp on the girl, standing back to study the site before him while his body continued to smoke.

The girl, still on the ground, looked at him; somewhat confused. Then she turned to the crystal before them both; a look of wonder upon her face: her somehow familiar face.

Shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head, the elder man began to laugh once more. Despite the immense pain he was feeling, he continued to bellow with laughter while the smoke rose ever higher.

The crystal then began to glow, covering the world in white; the sound of laughter beginning to fade. And, just like that, she woke up.

The morning sun pouring through the window upon her face, as it covered the rest of the cottage with a warm hazzy light. The scent of last nights supper and ash from the long dead fire from the fire place filled the air. She mumbled to herself, not yet ready to get up and face the day ahead. She tried to pull her blanket over her, only to realise that she had kicked it off during the night. She rolled over mumbling more complaints.

A few more minutes passed before the small child like creature was able to sit up. It was that dream again. She'd been having the same one again and again for a while now, but she couldn't figure out why. Shaking her head to rid herself of the thoughts, she figured it was finally time to get up and face the day ahead. Stretching her tiny body, she looked around lazily.

A whiff of something sweet caught her attention. There, sitting on the wooden, hexagon table was a warm bowl of porridge with a note beside it. She pushed herself out of bed and waddled over. Picking up the spoon and eating her breakfast without paying much attention. When she was finished, she decided to glance over at the note. In big inked letters, it read ' _Happy Birthday! I'll be waiting for you in the forest! - Sherlotta._ '

"Wha?!" She squarked, jumping up from the table. "It's my birthday?! Today?! It can't be!" She rushed around the room, trying to get dressed as quickly as possible. "May hasn't even-" she began, only to cut herself off. _That's right!_ She thought to herself. At long last, today was the day. She wondered over the the draws close to the end of her bed and pulled open the top draw. Inside lay an old green book, which had been gathering dust for quite sometime. Lying next to the book, was a pen she had been waiting to use.

The young girl had been looking forward to this day for a long time, as she could finally begin to write down her own story. She opened up the book, and on the first blank page, scribbled the worlds 'The Chronicles of Meeth' in huge black ink. She then flicked the page over to the next one and wrote 'Today is my sixteenth birthday and it's time for my coming-of-age ceremony.' She flicked back and forth between the two pages, studying them till she felt satisfied. She then closed the book, and put it in her back pocket, before making her way towards the door. Upon leaving the small cottage, she was greeted by the warm sun shining down upon her once more. It caused her to feel a little sleepy again, so she stretched her tiny body once again.

The girl belonged to a race known as lilty. She had blue eyes, a common eye colour for lilties. Her incredibly pale face was childlike, while her hair, which looked much like an onion, started out orange at the beginning, fading into a blonde, then faded into green on the sides. She also had a rose bud, along with two long sprouts, which also started out blonde, fading into green. For her clothes, she wore a white double buttoned shirt, which had a frilly collar. She also had a dark pink waistcoat to go over it, still allowing the collar to stick out. She then had a strange ponytail like thing, which was probably tied under the collar or something; while her trousers were purple with white stripes on the bottom. She also had a pair of little golden shoes. Despite being a small childish creature, it was clear that this girl was not your everyday person: for she also wore both a steel chest plate and bone shattering gauntlets.

A voice called over to her, causing the girl to turn and face another girl. She was far taller, and slightly older. She had sea green eyes, and her skin was the typical clavat paleness. Her hair was tied back in a hot pink ponytail, which had yellow flower hair clips either side. The clothes she wore were also pink, a light and dark pink top, with pale pink puffy shorts, hot pink shoes and black tights. The girl grinned at her. "Good morning, Meeth. Did you have that dream again?" she inquired.

Meeth sighed, "Yeah…" she said lamely, it was really starting to bother her.

The other girl beamed at her again, "Aw, come on, cheer up." She said, "Today's the day for your coming-of-age ceremony!" She chimed. "Sherlotta is waiting for you in the forest. Good luck!" She giggled, pointing the way towards the forest.

Meeth nodded in thanks. She walked over to the girl, feeling a little better.

The girl giggled more "So… Awake at last, are we? Well, happy birthday Meeth. It's the big one-six, huh?" she laughed again. "We're throwing a party when you get back from you coming-of-age ceremony." Grinning wider she added "I'm making your favourite treats, so make sure you pass!"

At this, Meeth couldn't help but smile, nodding she said "Thanks Ilina, you're the best!"

Ilina smiled back, she then continued talking. "But isn't it funny you having the SAME dream, like every night?" she said, while thinking hard. She then perked up "Hey, I know. It's because you miss Sherlotta, isn't it? Aw, that's so CUTE!" She laughed for a bit.

Meeth blushed with embarrassment, "Sh-shut up!" She stuttered.

Ilina's grin only widened, "ANY-hoo, you better get to the forest for that ceremony, pronto!" She declared, pointing to the forest once more.

Meeth nodded in agreement, then she waved good bye to Ilina and headed towards the farm instead. She wanted to catch a few other people before going into the woods.

A small child, who was only just shorter in height to herself, grinned at her. Like the other clavat, her eyes were green, her skin fair, while her ginger hair was tied in pigtails. She also wore an orange short sleeved top, with a long puffy white sleeved top and a yellow pinafore dress. She was rocking back and forth on the heels of her little yellow shoes while she spoke, "Good morning, Meeth! Looks like you overslept, huh?"

Meeth blushed scarlet, hanging her head in shame.

The young child giggled, before adding "I can't talk though. I only just woke up myself." She sighed, "I DID go to bed nice and early. Seems like I'm always sleeping these days." Her shoulders dropped in personal disappointment. A thought sprung to mind, cheering up, her legs shaking with existent as she added "Mum always said that kids need sleep to grow up healthy and strong. At this rate, I'll be the strongest girl in the village in no time!" she declared.

Meeth laughed, shaking her head. "If you say so." She teased.

The girl continued talking to Meeth, "You sleep in EVERY morning. Is that why you grew up so fast?"

Meeth stared at her blankly, "Doesn't that-"she began, only to cut herself off. It didn't really matter anyway. She decided to walk over to the boy working hard on the farm.

His eyes, skin tone and hair were similar to his younger sister's, but he wore his own hair in a high ponytail with a white and yellow stripped bandana wrapped round his head. His top was yellow, the longer one a more greyish white, while his apron was green, with grey puffy trousers tucked into a pair of brown boots. "Ta-de-dum. This year's going to be another bumper crop, I just know it!" he hummed to himself with glee. "Yeap. I'm goin' to put Jennifer here, and Amanda over there." He said, talking to himself, clearly not noticing anyone around him. Still focused on his plants, he continued to work away. "Stephanie, you'll be behind Christina, near the back. You're all going to be so beautiful!" he declared.

The girl growled, "You know, Lian. I REALLY wish you'd stop naming your vegetables." She snapped.

Lian looked over to face his sister: "Eryll, are you kidding?! That's the most important bit." He exclaimed. "Hm…?" He said, now turning to face the lilty standing before him. "Oh, hey Meeth. Man, you like your beauty sleep, huh?" He smiled, "But as of today, you're a real grown-up. You have to start acting like one." He said.

Eryll tilted her head to the side, "Why? What's so special about today?" She asked. She thought for a moment, when it hit her. "Wait…" She said, suddenly hopping up and down on the spot. "It isn't Meeth's birthday, is it!?" she yelled in shock. Shoulders slumping once more as she mumbled "I-I didn't plan any surprises or anything!"

Lian looked over at his sister with a sympathetic look, "Hey, it's cool. Ilina said she was going to set something up. Why don't you go and help her?" he asked.

Eryll cheered up again "Okay, I'll do that. Later!" she chimed, before running off over to Ilina.

Lian turned back to Meeth, "Meeth, you be nice to Eryll, okay? You know she's my favourite little sister." He warned before getting back to his work.

Meeth rolled her eyes. _She's your only sister._ She thought.

Lian looked up from the field and quickly added, "Er, anyway, happy birthday, okay?"

Meeth found that to be a little rude, but she knew he was only acting like that because he wanted to get back to his work. She then ran back over to Eryll and Ilina, to find out if they had anything else to say.

Eryll looked down again. "Why didn't anybody tell me? Sorry Meeth. Really." Her eyes were becoming somewhat teary.

Meeth smiled, "It's alright." She said warmly. "Just don't expect me to remember your next birthday." She teased, before heading over the bridge towards the forest. She stopped in her tracks again when she passed an elderly man.

He was yet another green eyed clavat, though his skin was ever so slightly darker. The fine looking elder was dressed with a purple coat covering a white shirt. His puffy trousers blue with black shoes. His shiny bald head, save for a small, stubborn yet thick curl at the peak of his neck, a stout beard at the front and a full moustache complimenting his magnificent white locks. The man turned to face the lilty child, "Young Meeth, is it? Did you sleep well?" He asked. But before she could answer, he quickly added, "Today is your sixteenth birthday. A very important day!" he declared. Clearing his throat, he went into lecture mode. "Whenever the young people of this village turn sixteen, they must go into the forest. There, they are recognised as adults in a coming-of-age ceremony." He then turned, "Do you see how crystal-clear this water is? In the same way, the ceremony will cleanse your soul and body…" He said, getting deeper into his lecture.

Just as Meeth thought she was trapped, Ilina came to the rescue. Calling from across the bridge, she yelled "Hey, Meeth! You don't have time to stand around listening to Gramps yap all day. You've got to get to the forest!"

The man, referred to as Gramps waved his arms about, clearly offended. "Ilina, where are your manners?" He scolded, "I am the headman of this village. The headman! And I expected to be treated as such." He yelled. "We've been looking forward to this day for sixteen years. I'm sure Meeth wants to hear my thoughts on this occasion."

Meeth grinned, scratching at her cheek. She didn't have the heart nor courage to disagree with the headman. After all, he was the leader of the village.

He then turned back to face Meeth, continuing with his speech, "Today is also your birthday of course. Yes, yes…" he then turned back to Ilina, flapping about once more "I have as much right as anyone to enjoy this occasion! I'm the village headman, after all." He was clearly feeling offended that he wasn't being treated with respect.

Ilina sighed, "Oh just ignore Gramps, Meeth. It's the same old speech he ALWAYS gives." She said, shaking her head in disapproval.

The elder growled in frustration.

Meeth put her hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him somewhat.

He bowed his head in shame, "I'll have you know I stayed up all night preparing my speech!" He continued to look down at the floor, too upset to look up.

Not wanting to make matters any worse, Meeth decided to bid the elder farewell and continue her trip towards the forest. She passed two young children, and once more was stopped in her tracks.

The slightly tanned selkie boy gave her a cheeky grin: his messy purple hair was tied up with a blue bandana, a gold necklace was around his neck, and he wore a green kilt. Still grinning, he spoke to her. "Hey, Meeth. Guess today you become a grown-up, huh?" He tilted his head to the side, revealing his brown eyes. "Last night Pa and some others went into the forest to prepare somethin'. They wouldn't tell me what, though. Nope. Didn't mention your name or nothin'." He moaned.

The pale lilty boy, shorter than Meeth, pouted. "Don't you know ANYTHING? They're holding a ceremony in the forest for Meeth." He scolded. His eyes were a dark brown, almost black. While he wore a green one-piece, a red tie round his neck and light blue overalls that had no legs, it also had two large red buttons. His shoes and fingerless gloves were brown. His onion like hair was orange fading into blonde, and the short sprouts had blue tips. It was common for male lilties to have shorter sprouts then females. The boy had also already reached his fully-grown-height, another common trait for lilties was to stop growing at the age of twelve.

The selkie boy sulked, "O-kay. But if you're so smart, why don't you tell me what they DO at the ceremony?"

The lilty boy was caught off guard. "W-well, er… It's, you know." He stumbled for words. "You tie a rope around your ankles and, er, jump off a cliff." Sweat began to roll down his cheeks.

The selkie boy frowned. "That… is… so…" he paused. "AWESOME!" He yelled, bouncing up and down on the spot. "Ain't that cool, Meeth! I can't wait for MY growing-up ceremony!"

Meeth smiled at him sheepishly, she was pretty sure that wasn't what happened. Though she knew about it as much as they did.

The selkie boy yelled "You are SO lucky!" clearly existed.

The lilty boy frowned, clearly disappointed about how gullible his friend was. Sighing, he added, "So, anyway. Good luck!"

She then walked over to the sleeping man who was using a tree stump as a pillow. His skin was tanned like his son, while his red hair was tied back in a ponytail, a blue band round his head. He wore a green open jacket, which had fur either side. His trousers were also green and he wore a brown belt that had a sash dangling down. On his feet he wore sandals. His mouth lay open as his moustache waved in the breeze.

Meeth poked him. His response was some snoring and a few words. "Zerk… Piece of… old junk… still goin'…" which was only followed by more snoring, so Meeth jabbed him in the stomach. "Nmph" he groaned, before jumping up yelling "BWAAAH!" he'd clearly been shocked awake. He panted for a moment, only to fall back asleep.

Shaking her head disapprovingly she decided to go talk to some of the other adults. So she passed the children and headed downhill where she saw two woman talking to one another.

Standing proudly in front of her tent, was a tall and slim selkie woman. Her eyes were an onyx black, while her skin was unusually pale for a selkie. Her hair a darker purple compared to that of her son's, was tied up in a bun like ponytail, the part that was tied up was grey. On either side of her hair were diamond shaped orange clips. Along with an orange necklace around her neck. For clothes she had a black sleeveless crop top, a pale blue part which looked much like a bra and golden edging slightly above, to separate the two. She also wore a pale blue mini skirt that had black shorts underneath. Her arms had black arm warmers, with a golden folded bit at the top, and orange bracelets on her wrists. For her shoes she wore golden sandals. Upon looking at the older lilty she said "Toumli, you better have some coffee, girl."

The woman known as Toumli shook her head. "Oh, I'm althright." Toumli was another lilty, her skin was the typical lilty paleness, eyes brown like her son's. Her onion styled hair started out green before fading into a lighter blonde, while the sides were green again. On both sides were silver diamond clips. She also had a bud which faded into blue, cupping into a unique headdress. As for her clothes, she wore a dark pink one-piece, with a pink cardigan which had a pale pink collar and a silver button. Just under her armpits, she had a sliver bracelet on either side, with thinner ones just before the sleeves ended. She also had a white apron wrapped around her waist and a pair of brown boots with more silver. She was older then Meeth, but also painfully timid; which reflected in her smile. "Ah, gooth morning, Meeth. Congrathulations on your birthday!" she said as she turned to face her.

Meeth raised an eyebrow at the older woman. "Are you ok?" She inquired.

"Oh, don't mind me. I wash awake all nighth and my tongue gets thleepy when I'm tired."

The selkie woman sighed heavily. "Look, why don't you just go to bed for a bit? No one can understand you anyway."

Then Toumli shook her head. "Oh no, oh no. I have to wash Meeth pash the ceremony."

The selkie woman rolled her eyes. "You'll be asleep long before then, I bet…" sighing once more, then she continued. "Aw, whatever." She seemed to cheer up suddenly, directing her attention the younger lilty, she continued to speak. "Good morning, Meeth. Today's finally the day, huh? Are you ready?" She inquired. "The coming-of-age ceremony'll be a piece of cake. Just go in, get the job done and get out fast." She advised.

Then Toumli jumped up and down with excitement, much like a child. "Meeth! The weak pointh is the thof of the heth! The heth!" she chirped.

The selkie woman just stared at her. _Seriously._ She continued to talk. "Anyway, like I said. Don't mess around and you'll be fine."

Nodding, she then waved them goodbye. She passed the children and the sleeping guy again, and headed up hill towards the two yukes. Who were arguing, again…

The young yuke, a golden sallet with a bright pink bow on the back, wearing a pink, blue and white dress, hoped on the spot, a pleading look upon her golden face. "Oh Teacher, can you teach ME magic? Please- please- please –PLEEEAAASE?" She begged.

The taller and older yuke, dressed with a purple pointy hat and robes, folded his arms. "Grrr, No! How many times do I have to tell ya? Ye're still too young." He growled impatiently. As he noticed Meeth walking towards them, he turned to face her. "Oh, hello Meeth. Today's the big day, eh?" He smiled at her, "As soon as the ceremony is over, ye'll officially be an adult. If ye wish to pursue the magic arts, I'd be more than happy to take ye on as a student." He beamed, continuing, he seemed to emit an aura filled with pride. "Under my guidance, ye could become one of the greatest spell casters. If ye want it enough, that is."

Meeth grinned, clearly liking the sound of that idea.

The young girl turned to face her teacher again. "Aw, Teacher, it isn't FAIR!" she complained. She then turned towards Meeth once more, "Listen, Meeth, if you DO decide to learn magic with Teacher, remember I was FIRST." She warned, "That puts me in charge. Whatever I say goes. Agreed?" Leaning closer, "Around here, I'm the boss character!" She declared.

Meeth nodded meekly, not wanting to ruin the young girl's pride. She then turned to face Teacher, who seemed to have more to say.

He chuckled, "To think ye're all grown up already." He grinned again. "Ye know, it's up to ye now to choose yer future path. From here on out ye're responsible for yer own decisions and behaviour." He said while nodding his head. "Act with honour, and never have any regrets." He chuckled some more. "Fancy speech, huh, kiddo?" he said proudly. "But remember- it doesn't count until ye complete that coming-of-age ceremony…" He paused, "Because ye never know. Not everyone passes!"

The yuke girl was shocked. "Techer! You're not implying that Meeth won't-?" She broke off. She then straighten up, "Don't listen to him, Meeth. I'm SURE you'll be fine!" she encouraged.

The teacher quickly added "Good luck to ye!"

The yuke girl grabbed Meeth by the shoulder, "Oh gosh! I nearly forgot! Happy birthday, Meeth! You're a real grown-up now. I'm so jealous. Good luck with the ceremony!"

Meet smiled and nodded thanks, she then bid the pair farewell before heading towards the forest once more. This time she was stopped by a moogle, who was standing in her way. Really, was she ever going to be able to go straight to the forest?

Its little red ball bounced as it spoke "There you are, kupo!" It smiled, "Sherlotta is waiting for you in the forest. If you think you're ready, go on in, kupo!"

She let out a sigh, she already knew where Sherlotta was, she'd been told several times today already. She just wanted to go straight into the forest without any more interruptions. Not wanting to be rude, despite her feelings, she smiled and muttered her thanks, before taking a step into the forest.

Finally, no one could get in her way now.


	2. Chapter 2: The Forest

**Chapter Two: The forest**

Upon entering the forest, Meeth was greeted with the pleasant smell of leaves and grass floating in the air. The sun light trickled in between the branches of the tall trees which surrounded her. She felt warm and relaxed. Closing her eyes to take in the sweet smell of the forest, a smile peeled its way on to her face.

After a little while, Meeth decided that she would take a moment to sit down and add something to her little chronicles. And so she sat down on the warm grasss, pulled out her green book again, and added the line 'Sherlotta is waiting for me in the forest.' She studied the page again, feeling a little strange, yet excited. She felt like some kind of amazing adventurer, telling her story as she went by. Filled with a greater desire to complete the task at hand, Meeth closed the book once more, pushed herself up, placed the book back into her pocket and took another step deeper into the forest.

 _Rustle rustle rustle_. Something was moving towards the entrance of the forest. A bouncing red ball hovering in the air was making it's way towards her. Then it clicked. Much to her dismay, she had stumbled upon the moogle again. She let out another sigh.

"I've been waiting, kupo!" it declared.

She rolled her eyes. Really, she'd only just talked to him. What did he want now?

He wobbled over to her. "Sherlotta told me I had to teach you about the Basics of Battle, kupo."

She sighed again. "Alright." She said, "Tell me."

"Very well. Then listen to me, kupo!" he said. Meeth suspected that she was going to regret this. He walked her though the basics, as promised. Telling her all about her health, and how much mana she had for her magic. "Clear so far?" he asked. She nodded, so he continued. "Now let's look a bit more into the battle format, kupo." He babbled on. Time felt like it was moving slower all of a sudden. But then again, he did explain to her how to attack in mid-air. Which could certainly come in handy. "Simple, kupo? Let's see what else you can do." He said cheerfully, before telling her to pick up a monster and then lob it into a tree. Which for some strange reason, she did. He went on to tell her many more things before finally finishing up. "It's easy!" he declared. "Now practice what you've just learned with the monsters here." He said before wobbling off again.

Just as she was about to ask him what he meant, the mu she had bashed into the tree earlier made a dash at her. She was dumb struck at first, but her instincts quickly kicked in. Double bladed bronze lance in hand, she slashed at the beast. After three strong swings, the creature let out a feeble cry as it fell. Once the beast was defeated, she let out a sigh of relief.

She looked down at her lance. It was a rather silly name really, as it was neither bronze, nor a lance, at least it didn't look much like one. The blades were steel, one being an axe head, while the other a spear. The pole was also steel, nothing bronze about it, save for a few minor details. She remember someone mentioning something about halberds and pole axes, but couldn't quite remember what they were exactly. Hence her contning to call the weapon by it's strange and unfitting name.

While lost in thought, it was at that moment that the bat nearby flapped towards her. Somewhat startled at first, Meeth had forgotten where she was. Shaking her head, she prepared herself once more. Her mind cast back to what the moogle had taught her only moments ago. Sucking in a deep breath, she bent her legs, leaped into the air, and swung her lance. The blow landed! She jumped around with joy, feeling pleased with herself.

The bat, on the other hand, was less pleased. It squeaked at her, before attacking back. Flapping its wings angrily, as it grew closer to Meeth, it bit her. She let out a yelp, before swinging her weapon twice more. Thankfully it fell to the ground in defeat.

Meeth was pleased with herself once again. If things kept up the way they were currently, she'd get through this ceremony in no time. Or at least that's what she told herself. Weapon in hand, she climbed up the slop, only to be greeted by another mu.

After running round the first area and ridding it of all the monsters, she managed to find three chests, each with their own loot. She'd also become considerably stronger then she was before. She was starting to get used to fighting these monsters.

The battle now complete, Meeth casually walked over to the strange blue object. She tilted her head from side to side, trying to figure out the purpose of it. Looking up, she saw a sign. Strange, what was the point of having a sign in a forest? Never the less, she walked closer to it and read it aloud. "Take this stone and place it on the pedestal…" She looked back down at the strange object and picked it up. It was incredibly light, despite its size. Tilting her head once more, she noticed a similarly coloured object. "Pedestal?" she questioned. She walked in front of it, then placed the stone on top. It slid into the hole, clicking into place. The wooden gate, only a few meters away, then rose up from the ground, letting her pass. "Piece of cake." She boasted.

Head held high, she strode into the next area. She had this strong sense of pride. She felt as if she could do anything! She turned and began her trek down the slope when a goblin appeared. It threw stones at her as she tried to get close enough to attack it. It was at this moment that she wished she had a shield to protect herself. Alas, she did not, so instead she was forced to block with her arms. As she grew closer, she was able to strike the creature. Clearly one strike wasn't going to be enough. After a long amount of time, she managed to deal a total of five strikes, which finally brought the goblin down. She then looked at her rather bruised arm. Really, Sherlotta was going to kill her when she saw it. Nevertheless, the quest hadn't finished yet. She still needed to finish this room.

Wincing, she moved her arm over her chest, in hopes it would be less in the way and continued onward. The next foe was a mu. After three jabs, it fell. It made her feel somewhat stronger. "I guess I'm a level 3 warrior now." She declared to herself.

At the bottom of the slope was another chest. She opened up the chest in front of her before turning her attention to the water. Meeth hated water, she wasn't very good at swimming, yet right in front of her was water: it was probably three times the size of her, so she could easily drown.

Meeth wanted to weasel her way out of it, maybe she needed to leap over the water. As she looked around her, she noticed another sign. It read 'Do not fear the water. Just dive in!' It had clearly been written by Sherlotta. Sighing, she bit her lip. No time to chicken out now, she dived in despite her mind screaming in protest.

 _Splash!_ And the tiny creature was in the water. At first she struggled to keep her head above the water, but after a few minutes began to get the hang of it. "Huh…" now that she wasn't struggling as much, she sort of liked the feeling of swimming. It was somehow relaxing. She began to swim around a bit more, until she reached the other side. As she pulled herself out, she couldn't help but laugh. What a strange child she was.

A slight nip at her feet made her jolt, catch her attention. Then another nip, and another. As she looked down, she noticed small blue creatures. She sighed, realising there was still much more to do before she could rest properly. Looking closely at the creatures, she suspected they must be mini movers. Lance in hand once again, she began to jabbing at them. They all needed to be hit twice each, thankfully the creatures were close to each other, so she didn't have to keep jabbing at them for too long.

Once the mini movers had been dealt with, it gave her some time to look around. The mound she was currently standing on was higher than most of the others. As she walked closer to the edge, she noticed another chest. Her eyes gleamed with excitement.

Chest after chest, monster after monster, she slowly finished off all the obstacles in the immediate area. At one point she had to battle three goblins at the same time! Though after defeating them, a platform went down into the ground, to be replaced with a switch. She didn't even bother with reading the sign this time. She just walked over to it and bashed it. It glowed a yellowish gold, before the gate leading into the next area opened up.

This was it, the next room could be the final test. She took a big gulp, cracked open a barrel, using the healing potion to mend her wounds, rubbing most of it on her left arm. Once her wounds had been healed, she walked through to the next room.

As she walked casually, she noticed the area was quieter than the rest of the forest, perhaps she had finally completed the test. Wasn't that hard really. As she got further in, she halted her steps. "Talk about speaking too soon." She said aloud.

Before her stood a large golden statue like thing. Probably a guardian of some sort. It had apparently heard her because in that moment, its arms and head began to rotate. Faster and faster, till finally it stood tall. As it turned to face her, its head flew off. It turned itself around, clearly embarrassed. Searching around, it finally found what it was looking for and placed it back on top before letting out a mighty roar.

"Oh boy." Meeth muttered. She began to run around the giant thing. Whenever she got a chance, she tried stabbing it with her lance, but to no avail. The thing only rattled slightly, as if it was somewhat old. When it bent over, she bashed it on the head, the helmet like thing crashed to the ground, breaking into a million pieces. It let out a squawk like grunt.

Finally, Meeth had found it's weak point. She leapt onto it its shoulders and stabbed at the back of the head like thing over and over again; she wasn't going to let it beat her now. Just as her confidence had reached its peak, the guardian managed to throw the lilty off of it. As she fell to the ground, it punched one of its giant metal fists into the earth, she just barely dodged it. She pushed herself up, running behind the machine like creature, she managed to climb its back once again. Up to the shoulders she went once more, bashing and hacking at the creature.

It took quite sometime in the end, but finally the guardian fell. She was exhausted, never in her life had a fight been so difficult. And she hoped she'd never end up in a situation like this one again. She allowed herself to catch her breath as the giant stones moved into the wall. She knew this meant she had to move on to the next area. Nevertheless, Meeth sat there, on the earth, for quite some time. There was no point rushing, especially not if she was going to be forced to face more unrelenting monsters.

In order to help her calm down a little, she decided to pull out her book once again and on the last part of the page wrote 'I fought a strange masked machine among the ruins in the forest.' As she looked down at the page, she smiled quietly to herself. Though it wasn't the most amazing story in the world, and really wasn't well detailed, it was her story, and her life. Which made it all the more important to keep writing down important events. Really, it was more like a journal for her, but she would treasure it all the same. She then placed the book back in her pocket and allowed herself to breathing in the cool crisp air.

After a good few moments, she finally she felt ready to move on. She picked herself up, and dusted off her legs. Looking around, she noticed the chests; opening them up one by one, finding that they all held health potions. She felt rather annoyed with herself. How had she not noticed them earlier?! She could have used them in the battle! She could have used them to help her regain her strength! However, she knew it was pointless to complain now, what was done was done. There was no way to go back in time and mend her mistakes, she had to move on with her life. Even though she was frustrated with herself, she slowly moved towards the strangely marked stone archway.

She cast one last look behind her. This was it, her childhood finished here, with these last few steps she would finally be considered an adult. Sucking in air, she pressed deeper into the unknown.


	3. Chapter 3: An adult at last

**Chapter Three: An adult at last**

Upon entering the new area, only the sound of water could be heard. The sun shone brighter here. It was almost like the place in her dream. It felt, strange, surreal even. She moved closer to the pool, looking around as she did.

A voice laughed, "Looking for someone? I'm right here." It said, causing Meeth to stop dead in her tracks.

As Meeth looked upwards, there on a giant floating crystal, known as the crystal core, sat a girl. The girl's hair was a pure white colour, tied back with a giant orange bow. She had a black choker, black top with yellow frills and another smaller bow with a bell attached. Both her hands had orange bows, while her puffy shorts were pink, with yellow zig-zagging strips. Her legs swung back and worth, cover by a pair of black tights, with orange laced shoes. Her whole appearance made her appear somewhat cat like.

"Well, kid, you made it through the test. I guess that proves you know your stuff." She said, tilting her head to the side and continued, "I suppose I'm going to have to pass you, huh?" She grinned wider, lifting up her arms, palms facing upwards as she shrugged her shoulders. "What did you expect? Fireworks and dancing bears?" she teased. "Oh!" She suddenly exclaimed, "I do have something for you, though." She stood up on the crystal core, revealing a black cat like tail with a white tip. She leapt of the crystal, hovering just before touching the water, it rippled, as if she had landed in it. Continuing to hover, she had a smug grin on her face.

The girl waited until the water stopped moving, then reached into her pocket. She pulled out a far smaller crystal which floated in her right palm. "Just think of it as a little graduation present." She extended her arm towards Meeth, "Here, take it." She said.

Meeth looked at the girl before her in shock. "Really?" she asked timidly. With a nervous hand, she reached out and slowly took the crystal from her. Placing it in a small pocket within her trousers.

The taller girl, a clavat, smiled. "Er, yeah. I know it doesn't look like much, especially compared to the big one there. But I didn't really have anything else I could give you." She shrugged again, "Hope you like it anyway." Her smile became more cheerful, "Happy birthday, Meeth."

Meeth blushed a little, "No, no, it's a wonderful present! Thank you so much Sherlotta, really!"

Sherlotta nodded, "Good." She then made a more serious face, "How was your first battle? Tougher than you thought?" Meeth nodded meekly. "Those old things always have a weak point. It's usually marked with some kind of design or decoration. Did you notice the pattern on its head?" She asked.

"Oh! Yeah!" Meeth exclaimed.

Sherlotta continued, "If you're in a fight and nothing you do seems to have an effect, check out the foe really carefully. You're a real grown-up now. You have to learn to take care of yourself." She declared. More cheerfully she said "Anyway, your coming-of-age ceremony is over. Well done, kiddo. Boy. To think my little Meeth is a grown-up already…" Her face looked more mature now as she continued in a more motherly like manner. "Seems like just yesterday, you were only knee-high. Time really does fly."

Meeth grew red with embarrassment. "Don't treat me like a kiddie!" she pouted.

Sherlotta shook her head. "…Hehe, don't mind me. Just reminiscing. Anyway, time to head back to the village." She tilted her head to the side as she looked Meeth over, "You're not injured or anything, right? So go on ahead. I'll catch up later." Grinning again, she said "Here, let me open up the shortcut for you." She lifted up her arm, and then a slight rumble could be heard.

Meeth looked towards the hill, she was reluctant to move forward, but she knew she had to. Still, she couldn't bring herself to, she wanted to make sure… sure that Sherlotta would be okay, yes, that was it.

Sensing Meeth uncertainty, Sherlotta pat her on the shoulder. "I'll catch you later. You head back to the village. Everyone'll be waiting." She said trying to reassure the girl.

Meeth nodded, bidding Sherlotta fair well, she slowly walked up the slope towards the exit. It was time to return home.

Passing into the next area, she realised she had made it back to the start, or at least the higher up area of the starting point. She was about to head straight on out, when she decided that now would be a good time to continue her 'chronicles'. So she pulled out her little book and pen, turned it to the next page and wrote 'Sherlotta gave me a crystal. I'm going to treasure it forever!' She then put the book away, before she walked downwards, towards the grass. Hopping from bit to bit, she made it back to the entrance of the village. "No time like the present." She teased herself, before heading back to the village.

Upon entering the village, she was greeted by an over excited Eryll. "Hey, Meeth, welcome back" she called, hopping up and down and flailing her arms about in the air.

Meeth sighed, a smile upon her face. "I'm back" she replied, while making her way towards her.

The girl grinned before bombarding Meeth with questions. "How'd it go? Did you do it? Did you get hurt?"

Meeth chuckled, there was no point trying to answer Eryll, she could talk all day. Besides, even if she answered the questions, she'd only be greeted with more. So instead she decided to show the crystal she was given, she reached into her pocket and pulled it out.

Eryll's eyes widened, "Oooh, wow!" She said, then she went back to smiling, "Congratulations!"

Meeth gave a cheeky grin, before putting it away. Just as she was about to say something else, a voice spoke from behind her.

"What are you doing hanging around here?" it scolded while appearing out of the forest.

"Hey, Sherlotta, welcome back." Eryll chimed.

All Meeth could think about, was how she was about to be scolded.

Sherlotta walked towards Meeth, till she was standing right next to her and turned to face her. "Remember, you're a grown-up now. You can't just play all the time like you used too." She said sternly. "You have to start preparing to live your own life, on your own two feet."

Meeth looked down at the ground, clearly Sherlotta wasn't pleased.

Thankfully Eryll came to the rescue, "But if Meeth goes off on her own, won't that make you feel lonely?" She asked.

Sherlotta became flustered, "I-I beg your pardon?"

Eryll giggled, "Oh, nothing. Don't mind me." She then started to run towards the rest of the village, suddenly stopped, then turning around she called "Anyway, let's go. We made a REALLY tasty meal. I helped cook it and everything!"

Sherlotta nodded, "That sounds wonderful."

Meeth suddenly cheered up.

"Come on, everyone'll be waiting…" she trailed off, falling to her knees "U-ungh…? Meeth? Sherlotta? I-I don't feel so good…"

"Eryll!?" Sherlotta and Meeth shrieked, running forward just in time to catch Eryll as she passed out.


	4. Chapter 4: Crystal sickness

**Chapter Four: Crystal Sickness**

The wooden door to the hut creaked opened. From the dim lighting inside, Sherlotta's face appeared, she walked out the door, her face grim. The villagers who had been talking amongst themselves all turned to look at her as she walked into the crowd. It was the yuke child who was first to talk, she walked over to Sherlotta before she asked the question on everyone's mind. "Sherlotta! Is Eryll all right? Is she okay?"

Sherlotta nodded, "She's feeling a lot better now. Lian and Ilina are looking after her." She said before crossing her arms over her chest in attempt to hide her sadness.

It was the older yuke who spoke up next, "But this sickness. Can it be…?"

Sherlotta was solemn "There's no doubt about it. She's caught the crystal sickness."

Toumli's eyes were filled with tears. "B-but how could that be? Why Eryll? And why now…?" she whimpered. It was clear that no one in the village understood how it was possible. They all stood there for a moment.

The younger yuke was clearly the most confused, "What's the 'crystal sickness'? She'll be all right, won't she? We have medicine, right?" She asked, trying to remain strong.

Her teacher answered her, a great amount of sadness could be heard in his voice while he spoke. "There IS a cure. But the ingredients we need cannot be found in this forest."

She shook her head, trying to wrap her head around things. "So…" she began. "So we have to look outside the forest, right!? The ingredients must be SOMEWHERE. We just have to find them." She began to bow over and over again as she begged, "Please, PLEASE! We HAVE to make Eryll better again. I'll do anything, anything at all. I'll study magic every night, I'll clean my room without being told, I'll…" she broke off.

Her teacher simply stared at her. He said nothing, nothing at all. She realised all too quickly what it meant. She gasped, "N-no, no NO!" she cried. She then ran over to the red haired clavat, "Please, Bachenn, help her! She was my very first friend in the village!" she cried.

Bachenn turned his gaze away from her; he couldn't bear the look in her eyes.

She turned to face the lilty boy, "Phelple! You're Eryll's friend. Why don't you do something? Please!"

He looked to the side, "Er…well…" he muttered.

The girl looked around, she turned to face everyone, anyone. Somebody must be able to do something. "Why is everyone just standing around!? If we don't do anything, Eryll might…" She began to choke on tears. This couldn't be happening, this wasn't happening.

It was the elder who put an end the eerie silence, "You see…" he began. He cleared his throat, "We can never leave this village. None of us can. It is the Law, and we must obey it."

The yuke girl looked at him, puzzled. "Th-the Law…?" her sadness turned to rage. "Who made that up? Who went and decided something like that? You're saying that you're all willing to watch Eryll die just because of some stupid RULE!?" She was about to storm off.

"Norschtalen, that is enough!" The teacher said in a stern tone.

"But… But, I-I…" she said meekly. "What about Eryll!?" she cried, tears streaming down her face as she ran off. The villagers watched her as she went, no one could do anything about it.

The villagers disbanded, Meeth wanted to help out Eryll just as much as anyone, but she knew the law. Instead, she approached the older yuke who was talking to Sherlotta.

"Crystal sickness? I expected Meeth to succumb, but not someone like Eryll. We are supposed to be safe from the illness. The world is changing, after all this time…" he cut himself off.

Sherlotta remained silent, folding her arms over her chest.

He looked at her, "Sherlotta?" he inquired.

"It's just… Oh, never mind." Her face grew sadder, "Our concern right now is Eryll. The crystal sickness CAN be cured, if we have the right medicine."

"There's no guarantee that it would work on the young girl, not in the state she's in." He replied.

"Agreed. But we have to try regardless. There's simply no other way." She unfolded her arms, "I'll have to leave the village and search for the medicine… out there."

He shook his head, "No, no, impossible. We need ye here, to watch over Eryll in case her condition worsens."

"But I'm the only one who can go into the outside world. Who else…?" She began to think.

"Well, there IS somebody." He pointed out.

"Uh-uh, no way!" she yelled.

"Remember, Meeth has completed her coming-of-age ceremony. It's time Meeth be allowed to stand on her own two feet. Besides, she's going to have to learn about the outside world sooner or later." He said.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But…" she protested. Shaking her head, she became concerned, "It's a big, dangerous world out there for a child. How can I help but be scared for her?"

He sighed, "Ye see how much Sherlotta loves ye, Meeth?"

Meeth nodded shyly.

"Huh? H-how long have you been…!?" she was clearly startled. She began to become more nervous, "Listen, I DO trust you. You know that, right? I believe you can do anything you put your mind to!" She said as she fiddled with her shorts.

Meeth had to hold back a giggle, "I know, thank you Sherlotta." She said cheerfully. Not wanting to cause anymore embarrassment to Sherlotta, Meeth turned her attention to the older yuke.

"Don't ye mind Norschtalen, now." He said, "She's just so worried about little Eryll that she doesn't know what she's saying. This crystal sickness that Eryll has caught is a disease that'd been around these parts for hundreds of years. In the old days, many people caught it in their youth. But we had medicine that fixed it soon enough. The things is, almost no one falls ill with it anymore. Expect for that other time…" he began to wonder off, but quickly brought his attention back to what he was saying. "We never think to keep the ingredients on hand. What would be the point? These days, I reckon most folk haven't even heard of the crystal sickness!" he explained.

Meeth nodded understandingly, she knew what he meant: there was no point if nobody was likely to catch it. Sadly someone had, and that somebody just so happened to be Eryll.

He continued, "Ye're not bound by the Law of the village like we are. Ye can do and act as ye please. Ye can go where ye want…" He was clearly trying to suggest that Meeth go in search of the medicine.

It wasn't that she didn't want to, it was just that she'd never left the forest before. She had no idea where to begin. She wanted to try and comfort the others before she left. After all, it would be helpful to get a bit more information before heading out on such a big adventure. So she began to looking around for somebody else. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that Norschtalen, the young yuke, was standing under a tree next to her house. Meeth walked over to her slowly.

Norschtalen looked up as Meeth approached, "Meeth, I'm SO sorry about earlier. I just kind of lost it. I know the village has its rules… I was wrong to yell." she looked down at her feet. Her head suddenly cocked up, "Meeth, if you leave this village and follow the main road, eventually you'll reach a big town. I used to live there, before I came here to study with Teacher. It's full of scholars and adventurers who travel there from all over the world. I'm sure someone will be able to sell you the medicine you need for Eryll." She explained.

Meeth paused for a moment, "Yes, I suppose someone might be able to. Beside, Walt- I mean Teacher was suggesting to Sherlotta that I try and find the medicine." She practically regretted mentioning it as soon as she said it. Now she defiantly had to set out on this quest.

"Really?! You'll do it?!" Norschtalen cried. She began to jump up and down with excitement; finally someone was going to be able to help Eryll.

"Of course! Eryll is my friend as well. I couldn't just leave her now, could I?" She tried to sound more confident. "But first I'm going to talk to the other villagers, see if they can give me some… Advice." She explained, it was an excuse so she didn't have to leave just yet. Still, she knew there was only so much time she could waste before she really would have to leave.

Norschtalen looked slightly sad again. "I'd love to go with you, but I have such a terrible sense of direction, I'd never find the way." She looked around nervously, before leaning in closer to Meeth, "The truth is, I only stumbled onto this village because I got completely lost in the woods. Teacher is the one who saved me. Since then I've gone out lots of times on errands for Teacher but I've never even made it out of the woods, let alone reached town. I always get lost and someone has to come and rescue me." She began to bow over and over again. "Oooh, Eryll, I'm sorry. I can't do ANYTHING. Please, please help her, Meeth. She's the first friend I ever had in this village. If something were to happen to her, I don't know what I'd do!"

Meeth tried to calm her down. "Don't worry, I said I'd go, didn't I? It'll be fine, you can count on me." She said in hopes of cheering the girl up.

She looked up at Meeth "I know you'll find the perfect medicine in town. Bring it back and save Eryll!"

Meeth waved her farewell before heading over the bridge. She decided to try and comfort the elder first.

"Meeth, it is most unfortunate this has happened on your birthday." He said, looking somewhat regretful. "I never imagined Eryll would succumb to the crystal sickness, although she IS about that age… The sickness affects some people who live near crystals; it usually strikes in childhood." He began to go in lecture mode again. "Meeth, you grew up here, so you don't think giant crystals are particularly unusual but, in the outside world, they probably no longer exist. The crystal in this forest is very special: it is the last of its kind in the world. Once upon a time, crystals were everywhere, and the crystal sickness was common. Well, we call it a sickness, but it's actually something different. People who catch it become stronger. Afterwards, they never fall ill again. We considered it a blessing, and celebrated whenever a child fell ill with it. Do you remember when you caught it? You were the same age as Eryll. You've never been sick since then, have you?"

She shook her head. "No sir, I haven't."

He nodded. "And when you get hurt, you heal much faster than normal people. That's the crystal sickness, too."

"Wow!" Meeth exclaimed, she was beginning to wonder why everyone was so worried. Alas, the bitter answer to her question came quickly.

"But despite that, Eryll is in serious danger. Even if we had the medicine…" He cut himself off, it was clear he wanted to be left alone.

Meeth walked away quietly, leaving the elder to his thoughts. Instead, she headed down the slope towards the river. There she saw the two lilties.

"Phelple…" Toumli muttered.

Not looking at her, he asked "Mum, is Eryll okay?"

She tried to perk him up a little, "Ilina and Lian are looking after her. They say she's feeling a little better. We'll bring her some fruit later, all right?" she suggested, in hopes he'd feel better.

He ignored her words. "She looked really sick, huh? She couldn't even stand up. But when she gets better, she'll be stronger than before. After she recovers, she won't get sick all the time like she used to. Right?" He was trying to hide his concern.

"That's right. You'll be playing together in no time." His mother said.

"Yeah. I sure hope they cure her REAL soon!" he declared.

She was silent for a moment, she hadn't quite expected him to say that. "Phelpe…" she whispered, seeming a little happier.

Meeth decided it was best to leave the pair alone, though she really wanted to talk to them. There was no point, they needed to be alone. Instead she made her way towards the tent. There she overheard another conversation.

"Can't we make medicine for Eryll with ingredients from the forest?" the selkie woman asked.

Bachenn, her husband answered. "No. When Meeth got sick, we searched and searched, but no luck. Waltrill knows the recipe, but we just don't have the ingredients we need."

She grew more concerned. "That girl has a weak stomach, too. I AM worried about her. Crystal sickness always hits hardest the first few days. I wish we could do something, I just hate seeing her in pain like that, trying to act brave."

"If only we had medicine…" He said glumly.

"What ingredient do we need? Maybe I could look for it?" The boy chimed in.

"I don't think so!" His father scolded him. "It's attached to a very powerful monster."

The boy just stared at his father. "I guess monster huntin' is kinda over my head." He looked rather annoyed.

"Ya think?" was all his father could say.

The mother sighed, "What a pair…" She sighed again "I'm worried…" was all she could say.

Bachenn simply repeated, "If only we had medicine…

The boy added "I sure hope she gets better soon…"

Meeth looked at them all: she couldn't bring herself to say anything to them, how could she? They were all so worried about Eryll. Meeth walked back up the slop, and sat down by the tree stump. She pulled out her faithful journal and pen. She flicked over to the second page, and at the bottom read what she'd already written, 'Eryll is sick.' She thought for a moment, before she added more to the paragraph, 'They say it's the crystal sickness. The other villagers can't leave the forest, so I'm going to town to find medicine.' She paused, and reread what she'd just written. She knew now that she was the only one they could count on, and she could wait no longer, it was time she set out. Nobody else was going to be able to do anything; it was all up to her. She pushed herself up, and walked over the bridge, towards the exit of the village. Looking up at the lamp, she held her lance close to her chest. "Now or never" she muttered. Sucking in another deep breath she walked into the forest.

Heading north, Meeth weaved her way through the forest until she could see a large clearing. It was such a large amount of open space, that it made her feel unsteady. Never in her life had she'd ever seen anything like it. Hugging her lance as tight as she could, she took a step forward. Taking a step into the world full of the unknown.


	5. Chapter5: First steps into a giant world

**Chapter Five: The first steps into a giant world**

The outside world was far larger than she had ever imagined. Nevertheless she had to get the medicine for Eryll, so there was no turning back now. As he looked around her, she suddenly felt so small in comparison to the world around her. She feared that no matter how hard she tried, she would never find the medicine needed for Eryll. Heck, she didn't even really no what she was looking for.

She shook her head, now was not the time to start panicking. Instead, she decided to try and the find the road that Norschtalen had told her about. Which was proving rather difficult given how large the world was. She ended up walking round the rim of the woods, when she followed the woods North West, it led her to an older more scary looking forest. It gave her a creepy feeling, so decided to head South East. As she went further, she came across large boulders, they made it difficult to go any further.

Meeth was lost. She had no idea where she was going. In her despair, she decided to try and follow the river, maybe a walk along the sand would help her out. Besides, this was the first time she'd ever seen sand, surely it wouldn't hurt too much. As she walked along the beach, she noticed something strange. It was a dirt bath, almost like a road. It was a fair way in the distance, but she could see it.

 _If you leave this village and follow the main road, eventually you'll reach a big town._ A voice whispered in the back of her mind. It was what Norschtalen has told her early. Everything clicked in to place, she'd finally found the path she'd been searching for. If she was lucky, she would make it back before night full. Besides, it had only just reached the afternoon, there was no way it'd take her the rest of the day. Right?

With a path to follow, Meeth finally set out again with a new found determination. It would be simple, walk into town, find the cure, and then bring it back to the village. As she walked along the path, another thought wiggled its way into her head. _It's attached to a very powerful monster_ , is what Bachenn had said to his son. Which was making her feel suddenly less sure of herself once again.

As she approached the large bridge which seemed to lead into town, her nerves were starting to get the better of her again. _It was huge!_ She'd never seen anything like it. She wanted to turn tail and flee. Still, she pushed on. As she began her trek along the bridge, she noticed two people standing either side. One was a tall yuke, dressed in purple robes and hat. While the other, a selkie, hair purple, clothes green.

Noticing her approaching, they seemed to perk up, probably with the intention of talking to her. Though it was likely the mage looking fellow would know something about making the medicine, it was quite possible the adventurer looking man would be able to deal with the 'powerful monster' that she may end up battling. With her mind set up, she decided to approach the selkie.

He grinned at her, "Hey-ho, what's up? You're new in town, huh?" He said before she could even get a word in. "This place is the main watering hole for treasure hunters, searching for whatever's left of the ancient civilisation." He paused for a moment. "You've got a hankering for gold, too, right, kid?"

Meeth wanted to explain the reason for coming all this way, but wasn't given the chance. She wasn't really interested in gold, she didn't even really know what you were supposed to do with it. All she knew was that people used it to trade it for other things.

Despite the fact that Meeth hadn't said a word, the selkie continued to talk. "Well, you're going to fit in just fine here. This town if full of dreamers! If you're looking for a fellow adventurers to hook up with, drop by the guild and talk to the guys and girls there."

 _Well you're a dreamer all right._ Meeth thought to herself. But his suggestion might not be too bad, it would give her a chance to make some companions on her quest for the medicine. Before she could ask for directions, the yuke chimed in.

"Just one moment, PLEASE! Those so-called treasure hunters of the guild are nothing but grave robbers!" he declared. "You should know better than to try and mislead a nice young girl such as this." He said while gesturing towards Meeth. "In the middle of this town there is a great library. Archaeologists from the world over gather here to study artefacts of the ancient civilisation. What better way for a young person to spend her time than reflecting on the romance of the ancient civilisation and partaking of its wisdom?" He inquired, before becoming stern, "Do not allow yourself to be led into wicked ways!" he warned.

The selkie waved his hands, "Oh, pipe down, scroll-head." He snapped. "If we didn't dig up those treasures, you scholars wouldn't have anything to study!"

"Poppycock! If you cared about learning, you would donate your findings to the museum." The yuke retorted, waving about also.

"Hey, I gotta eat like everyone else, old man." The selkie yelled back.

"Harrumph!" The yuke said in response. Before the pair turned away from each other.

Meeth looked at them both, really, what a pair. She wasn't quite sure if there was any point continue to try and talk to them. Though she did want to find out more of this 'guild' and the library. She looked between the pair, and decided to try talking to the yuke instead. The library could be helpful, it might tell her what medicine she might need. Strolling over to the yuke, she decided to ask.

Instead, the yuke turned round to talk to her. "Well, young lady, why don't you tell me where you come from? There's nothing around this town but ancient ruins and wastelands stretching away as far as the eye can see. I know of no other towns or villages nearby. And you don't look like an experience traveller. It must have been frightfully difficult for you to come all this way."

Meeth shook her head. "Not at all! I'm came from a small village within the forest. It really isn't that far."

He looked stunned, "What's that? The forest, you say!?"

"You don't mean THAT forest!" The selkie said in shook, pointing in the direction of the older and more creepy forest. "The place where witches dwell and the trees grow so thick and close that not even the sun can penetrate its eerie depths?"

Meeth wanted to say the younger forest. There was no way she was going to live in the creeper one. Even she knew better than to enter the old forest.

The yuke shook his head disapprovingly, "Y-you shouldn't joke about things like that." He appeared to be somewhat shaken up. "Dark humour doesn't suit you. Forget about that forest, and stop telling stories about it!"

"But I wasn't-" she began, but quickly decided it was better not to press any further. The yuke probably wouldn't mention anything else for a while, and the selkie just stared at her in horror. So instead she made her way past the shop with the cat out front and into the archway. She continued until she crossed a bridge with bunting on either side and found herself in a rather different area of town. She decided that this place would make a good place to start asking about the medicine. So she first walked over to the store with a small lilty woman stand inside. "Hello" she said nervously.

The lilty woman turned to face her, "Welcome to Ye Olde Storage Shoppe. We provide total asset management solutions for adventurers. Are your hands full of armour, weapons and other items? Then just leave it all with us! We look after you baggage so you can look after yourself. The service is provided free of charge by the town. It won't cost you a gil! Of COURSE your goods are safe with us. We'll never lose, sell or give away your precious belongings."

Meeth was bewilder by the woman. She didn't even get the chance to say a word. Though when the woman paused for a moment, she said "Actually-" only to be cut off again.

"Honest. You get everything back just as you left it." She then waited to let Meeth give her something.

Meeth shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't have anything to give you." She then turned to continue her search.

"Please come again!" The woman chimed after her.

"Maybe" Meeth whispered. As she began to make her way to a larger stand, another woman, this time a pink haired selkie stood at the shop. She was about to make her way towards her, when a lilty man, running around caught her eye. He had a bucket on his head, which she found rather funny. With a new plan in mind, she decided it would be best to talk to him first.

He turned to look at her, "What do you want with me?" He snapped, he probably wasn't in a good mood. "You can probably tell… but I'm a full-fledged, hard-core mercenary." He puffed up his chest a little, looking rather proud of himself. "The thing is, I'm not into babysitting wet-nosed rookies. No offense."

Meeth glared at him a little. She was certainly not a wet-nosed rookie. A rookie, maybe. But not a wet-nosed one. She knew some of her stuff.

"Hey, when you're as experienced as me, you get offers ALL the time." He said, possibly trying to reassure her. "I have over one hundred hours of play time!" He declared.

She gave him a rather strange looking. "Play time?" Was he suggesting that for him it was all a game? She honestly didn't know.

He ignored her question, "You're looking for fellow adventurers?" he asked instead.

She nodded eagerly, "Oh, if you'd help me out, that would be wonderful!" she responded cheerfully.

"Oh? You want ME to be your ally?"

"Please be my ally!" She begged.

"So, how many hours have YOU played?" He asked her, before looking her up and down. "Hm, not good enough." He said, apparently being able to tell how new she was at the game. "Look, I'm in a friendly mood, so I'll let you in on a secret. There is no way I'm going to be allies with someone who hasn't put in some serious time with the game yet!" He warned her before wondering off.

Meeth shrugged her shoulders, I didn't matter too much. She needed to get back on task anyway. She continued to walk towards the selkie woman. If Meeth was lucky, maybe the woman would know something about crystal sickness.

The woman seemed to cheer up, "Hey, you're new, ain't you?" Meeth nodded in response. "Welcome to the Adventurers' Guild. If you're lookin' for adventure companions, you've come to the right place. We can fill out your party by introducin' you to fellow adventurers to join you on your expeditions. But the only people we have listed are level one rookies. You'll have to train them up yourself." She warned. "If it's expert adventurers you're lookin' for, then hire a mercenary or two. But good mercs are in demand, and they can be really picky about pay and conditions and stuff. If recruitment is a hassle, you can strike out on your own. It's your adventure- you decide." She advised cheerfully. "We can hook you up with as many new traveling mates as you want but if your party gets too big you won't be able to outfit everyone properly."

Meeth looked at her weirdly. She was supposed to dress these adventures too? Why couldn't they do it themselves? What was wrong with these people?

The woman seemed to pick up Meeth's reaction, so quickly added "Smart adventurin' is all about balancin' resources." Noticing that Meeth seemed to agree with the statement she continued on, "If you do travel with allies, you can suggest what you'd like them to do. Commands like following you around. Do your best, don't use magic. Stuff like that. Ya know?" Meeth nodded again. "When you're out in the field, bring the party together using this." She said as she handed Meeth a strange musical like object. "It's not too hard once you get the hang of it. Best way to learn is to just try it out yourself." She grinned mischievously. "So, what can I do you for?" She inquired.

"Umm… Nothing actually." Meeth was unsure of what to say. So instead decided it would be best to try and find some place which might sell medicine or something. After all, at the moment she didn't really need any allies. As she turned to head back, she noticed a stair case, which led down to the docks. Or at least what she believed to be the docks. So she skipped down the steps, till she noticed a moogle. It was the first time she'd ever seen a moogle wearing clothes. So she found it rather funny.

Walking towards the moogle, he turned round to face her. "You want to try a quest?" He asked. "Well, you're talking to the right moogle. The guild hires me to run the quest side of the operation. You know, process applications, provide info… Remember, this ain't no charity. If you want to go quest you got to have the gil. Of course, you get rewarded if you do the job right. I also handle the payouts. We're always adding more quests as information comes in from adventurers, so check back regularly." He informed her. "Questing is all about give-and-take, right? So if you find any good info, you be sure to let me know. Here are the quests we have right now…" He then pulled out a list and handed it to Meeth.

She took it, somewhat confused. "Ah, thank you." She looked at it, "There's not really much information, just reads a few quests." she looked at the moogle, then back at the peace of paper "Oh, maybe the price as well."

The moogle nodded, "But of course, the whole point is you know we have some quests, but don't know what to do. I mean if I just told you straight up, you'd probably go do the quest without giving me my pay." He gave her a stern look. "I've dealt with plenty of adventurers before you, so don't go think you can try and outsmart me."

Meeth shook her head. "No sir, that wasn't what I meant." She put the peace of paper in her pocket. "Anyway, I was wondering if you could help me out, know where I can get medicine?"

The moogle gave a thoughtful look for a moment. "Nu uh." He replied quickly, while shaking his head.

Meeth bowed her head, "Thank you anyway." She said glumly before walking towards a more normal looking moogle who seemed to be running a show of their own.

"Greeting. We redeem scratch cards, kupo!" It declared cheerfully. "If you have a winning scratch card, you can use the special effect describer on the back, kupo!" It pom-pom wobbling about while it spoke.

"I'm good thank." She replied. Before heading back to the main part of the town. As she walked back through she decided to try and ask the shop keepers around. First heading towards the woman with her greyish blue cat.

"Hello. Welcome to Custom Fabrications." She said cheerfully. Her hair was a brownish grey which was tied back, a pair of onyx coloured eyes. Her scarf was brown, top beige with brown cuffs. While her dress was green and a small piny wrapped round her waist. The rest of her was covered by the wooden counter. She continued speaking, "We produce custom items using material provided by our clients. Not only can we customise equipment you already own but if you buy a scroll, we can take your custom orders and produce completely new items." She announced. "What can we do for you today?"

Meeth was a little nervous. "Well, you see." She stuttered. "I'm actually looking for medicine, for crystal sickness to be exact."

The woman gave her a strange look. "Hm? Medicine for crystal sickness? Well, I'm afraid we can't help you with that. Perhaps there's something else we can do for you?"

"No, no, I'm alright thank you, perhaps another time." Meeth said, hoping not to offend the woman.

"Thank you. Come again soon!" She replied cheerfully.

Meeth was just about the leave the shop and try another, when the cat meowed at her. It stopped her in her tracks. Unsure of how to react, she knelt down and gave the cat a scratch behind the ears.

"Oooh, my Claus Kaiser is being all affectionate!" the woman said in surprise. She then coughed, "Ahem, do excuse me."

The cat leaned towards Meeth, rubbing its head against her hand. It purred with delight. In turning cause Meeth to scratch the cat a bit more. Apparently Meeth was a fan of cats, something she hadn't had much of a chance to discover until now.

"Oh, he must really like you. He never does that to me!" she said sounding somewhat agitated now. "Not that I'm JEALOUS or anything…" Despite her words, it was rather clear how annoyed the woman really was. The cat simply meowed at Meeth again, causing the woman to be more aggravated. "Tsk." She bowed her head, trying to hide her rage.

Sensing the fact her presence was no longer welcome, Meeth walked towards the other shop. Compared to the other one, this shop was a lot larger. She walked over to the yuke behind the counter. Though she could tell by the sword on the sign that he probably wouldn't be much help either.

"Welcome!" He said energetically. "From morning to night, Ye Compleat Adventurer is here to support all your exploring and plundering needs."

Meeth's mood suddenly brightened up. "Do you by any chance sell any medicine for crystal sickness?"

"Eh? Crystal sickness medicine? This isn't a pharmacy, you know… and I've never heard of that disease. Would a nice flask of Cure do the trick? That's about all we have in stock."

Meeth shook her head, "No, I don't think it would work." Her mood become dark again.

"We're working with our suppliers to expand our range. Drop by every now and then to see what's new." He said hopefully.

As Meeth walked away, the dog barked at her, though it sounded as if it was questioning her. She ignored it, and was currently considering whether it would be better to walk up the steps and look around above the shops or go under the bridge and continue the search for other shops that may sell what she was after. After some time, she decided it would be best to continue the search deeper in the town. As she walked the empty sheets, she came towards a stair case, the largest she had ever seen. She raced up the steps only to be greeted by a large crowd of people going about their daily business. As she looked around, she decided to try and talk to the clavat girl, who was closest to her.

The girl had brown hair, a hot pink bandana on top. Her sleeves where purple with pink cuffs, the rest of her top also pink. Her shorts like overalls where a bright pink, while for her feet, she said small ankle boots. Upon noticing Meeth, she smiled at her warmly "Hello. I haven't seen you before. Are you new in town?" She asked. When Meeth nodded, a spark appeared in her eye. "This is the main plaza, and over there is the great library. It's the town's pride and joy." She said as she pointed in the direction of the library. "It was built at the same time as the ancient ruins that surround the town. But over the centuries, it's been renovated and rebuilt so many times it's become like a maze inside." She said with a shrug. "People were always getting lost, so the authorities sealed most of it off. Nowadays, hardly anyone knows what lies in the deeper recesses of the building." She informed her. She shook her head, "But listen to me, I sound like a tour guide! I mean, you don't LOOK like a tourist. And my guess is you're not here for the archaeology or the treasure hunting…"

Meeth nodded, "You're correct. I'm looking for medicine for crystal sickness. I don't suppose you've heard of it, have you?"

"Hm? Medicine for crystal sickness? I've never heard of that disease!" She replied. "Maybe you should ask the old gentleman in the library?" she suggested. "I think he's read every book in that library. He must know everything about everything! I'm sure he would be able to help." She continued, trying to be of some help.

Meeth smiled at her, "Thank you ever so much!"

"If you want to know about that crystal stuff, talk to the old man in the library." The girl repeated, as if making sure Meeth had been listening.

Though Meeth figured it would probably be better to go to the elderly man within the library, she still wanted to try and ask some of the other people around. She decided to try and talk to the blue eyed selkie. He had a short spiky green bob which he wore with a dark and light blue stripped bandana. His arms were bare except for a golden coloured bands at the top of each of his arms and cuffs over his wrist that were white with gold edges. His also wore a sleeves top, which started with a golden choker around his neck, a strip of white fabric with a blue design. White edging the top and bottom with a navy blue mid piece. His also wore a blue kilt with a base of white fur and a brown cord around the hips. His bare legs finished at his lower calf with white and gold cloth like martial on his sandals.

Meeth asked him about the crystal sickness, his response was rather similar to that of the others. "Eh? The crystal sickness? Naw, can't say I've heard of it. Sounds bad, though!" He said.

Meeth shook her head, "No, no. It's something that kids catch." She informed him.

He paused for a moment. "Is that right? It's something that kids catch? Well, I've always been as strong as an ox, so I wouldn't know anything about getting sick. Why don't you try asking someone else?" He paused again, as if trying to figure something else, "Oooh, I know." He burst out suddenly, "You could go to the library. I'm sure they have books about medicine. That great huge library take up half the town. It would be nice if someone got some use out of it!"

Meeth nodded at him, "Thank you." She didn't want to admit that she was hoping for a rather different response. Though she had to admit, the people closer to the library were a little bit more helpful then the people in the rest of the town.

"If you went to the library, I bet you'd find books about the medicine." The boy chimed before walking off, leaving Meeth to her own thoughts.

Still determined to try and find someone else who could give her some advice, Meeth continued to look around. Noticing something that looked like another shop, Meeth decided to head towards the people there. But before she could ask them anything, she overheard a rather unusual conversation.

"AWW, come ON! Please-please-PLEASE!" The small lilty child begged, hoping from one foot to the other. She had a golden head, with a rose bud on top. Her large round eyes were the typical lilty blue. She wore a white top with a furry collar and an orange cardigan that was closed with one large button in the middle. She wore dark brown trousers with ankle boots.

"That's enough! I told you, if you drink too many cold drinks you'll get a tummy ache." He mother scolded, with her hands on her hips. She had blonde hair, starting out dark, quickly fading to a light blonde. She also had the typical rose bud, which she tied it with what looked like a white doily and a gold band. She also had a dusky red kerchief around the neck, with a brown jerkin which went over a light green long sleeved top with red edging. There was also cumber band of the same colour. Purple pinstriped trousers ending in brown round toed boots

"But I'm so THIIIRSTY…" The child whined.

"Then drink some water." She snapped, she continued to stand her ground. Despite her child's plea.

"EWWW, no WAY!" The child responded.

The mother seemed to be getting more and more agitated with each passing second. "You know what happens to naughty children, don't you?" The mother warned. "The wicked witch of the forest comes and takes them away! And once you're in the woods, you won't ever be able to get out again."

The child wasn't having any of it. "Oh, that's not true. That's just a stupid story to scare kids." She continued to bounce up and down. "There aren't any witches in the forest.

It was at this moment that the yuke, who had been standing by the whole time chimed in. "Actually, ever word of it is true." She had a light pink backed helmet with a bronze-gold coloured face plate, which had a heart shape design to allow her to see. The collar was a dark pink with white edging a pink mid tabard that had a white pattern. At the centre of a long sleeved gold top which had a white edge. Her hands were a pinkish brown with white bands. The half calf length dark pink boots had a gold coloured band across the forefoot.

The child stopped hopping about, with her mother, she turned to face the woman. "Eh…?" She suddenly seemed less sure of herself. There was a moment of silence. "Y-you're just trying to scare me. But I don't believe in witches!" she declared.

The yuke woman seemed to chuckle. "I used to think the same. That is, until I went to the forest and saw the witch with my very own eyes!"

The child looked at her in fear, "N-no way..!"

The yuke woman raised her arms, "Yep. I saw her, all right. It was years and years ago now." She sounded as if she was remising about her past.

The child suddenly gained some more confidence, "Oh, so it's an OLD story, is it? Well, I guess we're safe now, right?"

The yuke straightened herself up, "People have been telling stories about a young girl wandering that forest for as long as I can remember. I suppose people figured she must be a witch or something. Anyway, the stories have been passed from parent to child down through the years." She declared. "My mother heard it from her grandmother, and SHE heard it from my great-granddad. And so on. We yukes live long, long lives. But when I saw that girl in the forest, she looked just like she's described in the old stories. So imagine who old she must be! The lands around here are full of ruins from the ancient civilisation. I wonder if that girl…" she trailed off.

"Waaaaaaaaah!" the girl cried.

As if she couldn't hear the child's scream of terra, the woman continued on. "That reminds me, there was a girl from town a few years ago who disappeared into the forest."

The lilty mother chimed in, "Right, a young yuke girl." Nodded her head. "Her name was Norschtalen, wasn't it? She was always very timid. It must have been awful for her, alone and lost deep in that forest…" she also trailed off. The young lilty shivered in fear.

It was this moment that Meeth decided to chime in, "Oh, she still gets lost there." She added cheerfully.

All three of them turned to face Meeth, "Hmm…?" the elder lilty said with curiosity. While the yuke woman simply stared.

The child began to shake, "…Bw…bw…bw…" she stuttered. "BWAAAAAAAAAH!" She cried, hopping up and down once more. "NOOOOOOOOO!" The child screamed.

The mother hugged her child, "N-No! You mustn't take my child from me!"

It appeared that both mother and child were now rather scary of Meeth, it made her feel a little guilty. Nevertheless, she was a little curious if the yuke shared their terra or not. Much to her surprise, it appeared the yuke was rather thankful towards Meeth.

"Well, I don't know who you are, but thank you. You've got that girl so scared I don't think she'll go within a mile of that forest." She sounded somewhat relieved, she quickly added, a little quieter, "Although, I don't mind admitting you managed to scare me a little, too."

Meeth smiled at the tall yuke, before walking off. It was rather clear they weren't going to be much help. It was time for her to try and find somebody else to ask about the medicine. So she decided to trek towards the beautiful water fountain, it was surround by a large bush with plenty of different flowers blooming. In front of it stood two men, one a lilty, while the other a clavat man.

"Ew, there it is AGAIN." The clavat man said, he had chocolate brown hair, with a pair of grey-blue eyes. He wore a high collared top which was a light blue lined with white, the top also had a brown patch in the middle of his chest which had a large cross stitch. The sleeves also had large cross stitches over the top of the arm. He also wore a white kilt that had black points at the base. On each side was a tabard of cloth with a rope cinching the waist, while on his feet he wore green boots.

"Yeah. The town fountain is turning into something the swamp thing wouldn't want to live in!" replied the lilty. His onion hair had a green tinge which faded into blonde. While the sprout was green with a golden band tied at the bottom. Like many lilties, his face was round, and his eyes the same shade of blue as many others. He had a maroon collar, with grey long sleeved top that has a gold band at the top of the arm. Maroon coloured fingerless gloves with an open back. His blue dungarees had large brown buttons with a pink ribbon in the middle that finished just below the knee. White socks and brown shoes with turned up toes and gold bands across the forefoot.

"Man, it stinks." The clavat boy said, while holding nose.

"Sure does." The lilty added while waving his hand in front of him, trying to get rid of the smell. "It's kind of like rotting fish and wet fur, all at the same time. Yuck."

The clavat turned to face the lilty. "We've got to do something! You think an animal has gotten into the underground aqueducts?" he suggested.

The lilty then turned to face him "Ungh, I feel sick. Why don't YOU check it out? I really don't like dank, smelly places." He crinkled his nose as he spoke.

"Who does? Expect, maybe, for certain magic beasts. Which I'm not, by the way!" He snapped, "Wait. You don't think…?" He broke off, the pair then turned back to face the fountain.

Figuring that the pair wouldn't be much help either, Meeth continued her search to try and find someone to ask about the medicine. Walking past the strange duo, she found another clavat man. He stood on a staircase which led up to a higher platform. He appeared to be far older, possibly one of the eldest in the town. He had grey hair that had a seed shaped spike at the front and choppy sides. His grey shirt's sleeves were in a leg of mutton style with brown above elbow gloves. His tabard was maroon and pink middle, the mandarin collar was maroon and pink as well. His leggings were the same brown as the gloves ending in grey socks and brown, round toed boots.

As Meeth approached, the gentleman turned towards her. "Now, you look like a fine and mighty young adventurer." He said as he looked her up and down. His response struck Meeth as strange. Nobody else had said that, which meant that he was after something. He continued on, "I, the greatest chef in the world, have a request. Yes, for you." He pointed a figure at her.

 _Figurers._ Meeth thought to herself.

"Whatever the ingredients, I can turn them into something mouth-wateringly scrumptious." He declared, sound ridiculously confident. "How? Because I am the greatest, of course! However, there is one kind of ingredient that I have yet to use in a dish." Though Meeth was a little curious, he was too cocky, and probably was more mouth then action. "What is that, you ask? Why monsters, of course. Monsters! My new culinary mission is to craft monstrously good meals from meaty morsels of monster! Mmm-MMM!" He rubbed his stomach as he spoke. "Of course, I cannot risk injury to myself outside the town. Although I put in a request at the guild, the results have been most unsatisfying." He shook his head in shame. He then looked towards Meeth with a hopefully glaze. "So, my young friend. Will you help me? I want mus from the forest. But you must defeat them using only fire spells. You cannot use weapons or other kinds of magic. My plan is to serve the toasted little mus just as they are. Sounds delightfully delish, eh? You can accept my mission at the Quest Shoppe. You are my great hope!"

Meeth rolled her eyes. He was as useless as she thought. He probably wouldn't tell her anything about the medicine either, so it was pointless to continue to try and talk to him. She continued to climb the steps till she reached the top. She then walked forwards, noticing a selkie woman. With a small amount of hope, she tried to talk to her.

The woman had a greyish-brown bob, with her hair tied back in big curly ponytail. She wore a thick fur choker, below that she had a green crop top with white coloured lacing. She also had a small black top under the lace, while a brown strip at the bottom of the top. For her arms she long black fingerless gloves with a white fluffy bands. For the bottom half, she wore a green pelmet with a white Celtic design. Black cropped leggings. Brown ankle boots that were open toed, gold band around the ankle and green top. The woman smiled at her, "Hello, hello. I haven't seen you around before. Are you new?" She asked, Meeth nodded again. "By the looks of you, I'd say you're not here to train to become a scholar. Oh, the innocence of youth! I remember when I first came to town, chasing my dreams…" she paused "And then… It's funny how life turns out sometimes. My advice to you is to try lots of different things while you're still young. This town is chock-a-block full of adventurers like yourself." She nodded her head as she carried on, "It can be a lot of fun to go exploring with people you've never met before. Even if you don't share a common language, you can still enjoy the adventure together." She advised.

Meeth thanked her for the advice. It made Meeth want to return to the town and try and help out once her business had been dealt with. But for the time being, she would try and talk to a few more people before heading into the library. She walked to the other side and halted in her steps as she approached the pair near the tree.

The clavat man slouching on the bench appeared to be in his late thirties early forties. Oblong face with grey-green eyes. He was wearing a green high collared short sleeved top with a brown jerkin over the top, the waist cinched by a brown leather with a metallic clasp. Under all this he wore short white hose finishing above his knee. On his feet he wore round toed boots and thick socks that came over the top. He sighed, "I have the WORST luck."

The lilty woman, perhaps a similar age to the man, appeared rather concerned for her friend. "What's wrong? I thought you were really excited about that thing you found." She asked. Her eyes were purplish blue, while her hair started out a pinkish red, fading into blonde, a golden headband on top. She also had a rose bud, which had a golden accessory that cupped it. Her top had a peter-pan collar and a red ribbon in the centre. The sleeves were buff coloured with white scalloped fringe that was also on the bottom of the green apron that was on the top which had two pockets. Her buff coloured leggings ended at the ankles with brown socks and red shoes. Trying to cheer him up, she continued "What was it now? A treasure map you brought from the antiques shop, right?"

"Yeah, well. I went to look at it, and the stupid wind blew it out of my hands! It flew up into the air and then into the forest. Gone forever." He replied glumly.

"Well, well. I suppose the lesson here is not to open maps in windy places." She continued to try help him see the brighter side of things.

He sighed again, "That map showed treasure all OVER the place. I really do have the worst luck."

"I AM sorry. How much did the map cost?" She seemed more sympathetic towards his feelings now.

"Two gil." He replied.

She paused for a moment. "Er, I think the map was a fake." She said flatly. Trying to sound more thoughtful, she added "I suppose everyone needs to have a dream." More to herself them him.

The man continued to sigh, mumbling "I have the WORST luck." To himself.

Meeth figured they wouldn't be much help either. Which meant she only had one choice left. The library. She walked towards the stair cases, decorated with large stone books either side. As she reached the top, she was greeted by a stone archway, and a pair of large melt gates. Walking through the gates, she was then walked along a stone path which lead towards a rather large building which had giant pair of wooden brown double doors.


	6. Chapter 6: The library

**Chapter Six: The library**

The large doors opened with ease. A huge marble hallway lay in front of her, the room had blue flags with golden marking dangling down on either side of the walls. As she looked around the room, huge book shelves lay on either side. Row after row with billions of tomes, each shelf exploding with hundreds of different volumes varying in size. There were so many books that some of them had been stacked in piles instead. It was breath taking.

Meeth inhaled the dusty smell of old tomes and novels, it was a comforting feeling for her. A part of her wanted to run around the whole of the library, and try to read every single one of these different tales. However, for the time being there were more important things to think about.

On the other side of the library stood an elderly man, he wore a coffee brown pork pie hat with a golden strip around the rim. He also wore a striped cream shirt, with golden bands on either side, causing the top of his sleeves to puff out. Over his shirt he wore a brown waist coat, it had golden edges and buttons. For his bottom half, he wore buffy purple trousers, tucked in knee length brown boots. His creamy wrinkled face seemed pleasant, relaxed even, as he read the large ancient text in front of him. His tiny black glasses, just barely covering his crimson coloured eyes. As if sensing her presence, he made a remark of surprise, turning to face in her direction. "Are you…?" he began, before closing his eyes and shutting the book. Now facing her directly, he nodded his head, "Can I be of service?" he inquired.

Meeth approached him somewhat nervously, there was something about his appearance that made her feel a little uncomfortable. She didn't understand it though, this was the first time they had ever met, surely she was over thinking things. She decided it was best to just explain the situation to the elderly man in hopes he could help her in some kind of way. Clearing her throat, she explained to him what had happened, "Eryll, a girl from village has fallen ill. According to the elders in the village, she shows the signs of having crystal sickness. I was sent out in search of a cure, but I have no idea what to do!" she explained.

"…Hmmm, I see. So a child from your village had fallen ill, ja? And vhen the villagers saw the symptoms, they determined that it vas the crystal sickness?" He asked, more to himself then her. Upon nodding her head, he allowed himself to continue. "It is strange that there are people around who still know of that disease. Crystals are powerful objects that emit continuous energy vaves. In small quantities, it is harmless. But if a person is subject to large amounts of radiation over a sustained period, their body begins to change. That change is called the 'crystal sickness.'" he explained. His face began to crease, "But it is a very ancient illness. The crystals are long gone from this vorld, so vhy vould anyone fall ill now?" he placed his hand to his chin, pondering the reason.

It was at that moment that the crystal within Meeth's pocket began to shine, it made a brief flash, and in that time period it illuminated the room in white.

The elderly man seemed shocked, "Hm!?" he unfolded his arms and started at her for a moment, allowing himself to calm down, before asking a seemly important question, "Do I sense… a crystal? Do you have one?"

Meeth reached into her pocked and pulled out the small yet bright crystal.

He appeared to be somewhat annoyed, maybe even angry as he spoke the next words. "Ja, ja, it is indeed a crystal. And one of incredible purity, at that." He started at the crystal in awe, clearly taken away by its beauty. Looking down at the floor, he began to talk to himself, "Does this mean that they crystals are returning? Surely, that cannot be." His head cocked up once more, the rage increasing within him, "Tell me, child. Vhere did you find this object? Come, come, you must tell me!"

In response to this, Meeth realised that keeping the crystal out was a rather bad idea, so instead, she put it back within the confined space of her pocket. His reaction made her feel rather fearful again, the doubts from earlier was arising once more.

The man took a moment to compose himself once again, "Ah, my apologies. First, you vant to help the child vith the crystal sickness, ja?" he said while shaking his head in disappointment with himself. He made eye contact with her once more, "I know how to make the medicine that you seek. Hmmm…" He paused for a moment, then a smug grin appeared on his face, "Perhaps ve can help each other, ja? There is something I need done as part of my archaeological research. If you agree to help me, then I vill make the medicine for you. Vhat do you say?"

Meeth paused briefly, she knew she needed the medicine, and there wasn't many who knew how to make it. Yet something about this man made her feel uneasy. She didn't want to trust him, but she knew all too well that she didn't have much of a choice. Despite every nerve in her body screaming at her not to trust him, she nodded her head in agreement to his request. Surely nothing bad could come of helping an old man with his research.

He smiled rather happily, "Good, then ve have a deal. My name is Larkeicus. First, to complete my end of the bargain…" His cocky smile had returned to his lips, "I must have a buffasaur horn to brew the medicine. You vill find me one vhile I am preparing the other ingredients." He then turned back to looking rather serious, "The buffasaur is a magical beat that lives near vater." Then his face seemed to light up once again, "It is very powerful, but easily succumbs to magic. Ja, it's scary, but not TOO scary…" He then began to walk to the centre of the room, before asking, "Do you know how to use magic? If not, perhaps I can teach you. Vould you like that?"

She paused for a moment, Meeth had to admit, she didn't really know how to use magic, potions were easy, but casting a spell? That was a different story. She decided that it would probably be best to make use of Larkeicus's offer, as there was no telling what spell she might have to use. Not to mention the fact that the villagers were currently too busy looking after Eryll to try and teach her anything. Left with no other choice, she nodded her head, "Yes, please!"

Grinning wider, he responded with "Very vell. Let us begin vith the basics." He then indicated where he wanted Meeth to stand before continuing on. "To use magic, you must have mana. The amount of mana you need depends on your tribe and the spell you vish to cast. If you do not have enough mana, then you cannot cast the spell." He paused for a moment to allow himself to catch his breath and to make sure that the young lilty was still listening. "You can replenish mana by taking items from the foes that you defeat." He then quickly cast a spell, illuminating the room in light. "This is just for practice, so you have unlimited mana." He then walked towards her, holding a rather old tome, he opened it up and then handed it to her. "Now take a look at this page. On the right, you see the magic panels, ja? These show the magic you can use."

Meeth stared down at the page, clearly confused. For somebody who was about to teach her the basics, they weren't doing a very good job so far. It seemed they were expecting somebody who knew how to cast at least a couple spells, maybe even knew what he was actually going on about.

He seemed to notice the fact that she was struggling to understand. Never the less he continued onwards, "There are serval different vays to cast a spell. I shall start by teaching you the easiest vay. You can select a spell to cast by touching the magic panel. Vhich vill then allowing you to read the spell that you vish to cast. Tis the easiest vay after all." He paused once again. "From top to bottom, the spells are Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, Cure, Raise, and Clear." As if remembering something, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small stone like amulet, "Or, using this amulet, you can hold down the centre and move it in the direction of each of the spells instead. This vay you don't have to use the tome." He then handed the circular amulet to her.

Meeth lent forward and took it from him, "Thank you." She mumbled, studding the strange thing now held in her palm.

"Of course, in the long run, it would be much easier to cast the spells from the tome, or by remembering the spell by heart. But for now, this vill help you in the heart of battle." His smug grin made another appearance, "Once you have chosen the spell, focus and concentrate to make the target ring appear."

Meeth did as she was instructed, she closed her eyes and decided which spell she was going to cast. She concentrated all her energy in front of her until a ring appeared. While still focusing all her energy, she still allowed Larkeicus words to reach through to her. She also opened her eyes again to allow herself to see what he was doing as well.

Larkeicus's voice became stern "Now hold it. Don't let go yet!" Upon noticing how well she was doing, a warm smile pealed its way on his face, "Vhile still concentrating, you can move the ring vith your mind. As you can see, the ring is the same colour as the spell you are going to cast. You have selected the Fire spell." His face became more serious once more "Vhen you have placed the ring on the target, release your mind to cast the spell. If you vish to cast recovery spells on yourself, simply move the ring so it targets you. Now, vith one ring you can only cast one of these six spells."

Meeth frowned, "Why can I only cast one ring?"

He chuckled, "Naturally, as a beginner you vill not be able to stack your spells just yet. Of course vith time comes great power." The oh so charming smile remerged. "But by combining magic, you can unleash more powerful spells. You can do this together with your allies, or you can stack magic yourself. First, you must select a spell and focus to summon the target ring. Then when you are strong enough you will be able to fix the target ring in place, then you can summon another target ring and place it on the first." He chuckled once again "In this vay, you vill be able to cast even more powerful magic. This is called stacking magic. Different combinations and numbers of rings produce different kinds of spells. Experiment and see for yourself."

Meeth nodded her head. It was a lot to take in, but somehow she was able to understand what he was talking about.

Larkeicus had returned to his serious teacher format. "If you have fixed a target ring, you can focus again to cast the spell. A successful adventurer knows how to make the most of magic!… Vell, you are an apt pupil." A cheeky grin appeared, "I think you efforts deserve a reward, ja?"

Meeth perked up, finally after all the hard concentration, she was going to gain an interesting little reward or two.

"Here!" He grunted as he lobbed a few strange orb like objects.

Unsure as to what they were she picked them up regardless. As soon as she made contact with them, they disappeared, yet somehow, she felt… stronger? She looked up at him in awe.

He laughed, "These are vhat ve call orbs. Ve use them to raise our magic levels. You can find more vhen you defeat monsters or open treasure chests. Be sure to collect them all! Remember, vhat matters are the results! Now, good luck." And with that he returned to his desk and his old dusty tome.

And just like that, Meeth was set off on her journey to find the location of the beast known as buffasaur, and then snatch its horn. With her newly learned abilities and a better understanding of what she would have to do, she left the library in search of the location of the creature. Perhaps someone within the town would be able to help her locate it.


	7. Chapter 7: The search continues

**Chapter Seven: The search continues**

Upon exiting the library, Meeth was stumped on who to ask for help. She looked around the town, and decided to walk down the steps towards the empty bench. She sat down and pulled out her little green book and pen. She paused for a moment and studied the pages she'd written so far, she then turned to the third page and began writing, 'I met a man called Larkeicus in the library. He says he'll make the medicine for me. But I have to find a Buffasaur horn. Buffasaurs are magical beasts that live near water.' She looked back at the page, her story was really coming along, it was such an amazing feeling to know that maybe one day someone would stumble upon her journal and discover the adventures she had been on. Satisfied with what was written so far, she closed her book once again and put it away. After all, she still had to find the location of the creature.

Now standing up, Meeth looked around the town square, somewhere, one of these people might be able to help her. Suddenly she remembered the strange pair by the fountain, if anyone was going to know the location, it would probably be them. As she walked down the steps, she spotted them, they were still standing there, complaining about the smell.

The clavat turned to face his lilty friend. "We've got to do something! You think an animal has gotten into the underground aqueducts?" he suggested.

The lilty boy frowned, "Normally, I'd be the first one down there checking it out, but I can't swim."

Meeth thought to herself for a moment, if she remembered correctly, they talked about certain magic beasts liked stinky water, so if she was going to find that buffasaur, the best place to start would be in the aqueducts. Figuring that these two wouldn't be able to stand a chance against such a creature, Meeth offered to go down into the aqueducts and sort out the problem herself. If she happened to find the buffasaur while doing so, that would be a bonus.

The strange pair turned to face her, "Oh. Do you want to know how to get into the aqueducts?" the clavat boy inquired. He smiled brightly at her, "First, you have to leave the town, from there you'll find the dirt path, follow it until you find a split. From the split you'll want to head north-east, keep heading that way till you find the entrance to the aqueducts." He paused for a moment, before giving a somewhat questioning look, "You're going to check out the aqueducts for us?"

Meeth nodded her head.

The lilty man seemed to glow with pride at Meeth's response "Excellent. Nice to know there are still people around with the old community spirit." He gave her a good pat on the back.

Meeth was somewhat shocked by their reaction, nevertheless she had to hurry off and save the aqueducts, before things got worse. So she nodded her head and bid the strange duo farewell before heading off for her new destination. She headed down the long staircase, all the way back to the entrance of the town. From there she froze, did she really want to try and fight this beast all on her own, or would she rather have companions to lend a helping hand? She didn't know, all she really knew was that she didn't want to do everything on her own.

As she thought to herself, she realised it would probably be a good idea to jot down the information she had just discovered, so she pulled her journal out again. This time she wrote 'Some people in town told me how to get into the aqueducts. I sure hope there's a Buffasaur down there.' As soon as she had finished, she put the book away, and went back to deciding whether or not she wanted company on her quest.

After a long moment of contemplating, Meeth decided that for the time being she should continue to work on her own. After all, there was no point dragging other people into her own business, especially people she didn't trust. She would wait until she found someone she trusted enough to have her back before she even considered having someone else tag along. With that mind set, she finally walked along the stone bridge out of the town.

Being out in the quiet open fields made Meeth somewhat calmer. She hadn't even noticed how tense she had been within the town, till she was surrounded by the serenity of nature. She sighed to herself, breathing in the fresh air. She waited a good few minutes before starting her trek towards the aqueducts, as there was no point throwing herself into a possible battle field with tense muscles. She needed to be calmer, so she could think straight and be as flexible as needed.

When Meeth felt she was ready, she began to follow the dirt path again. Walking through the fields made her feel peaceful. She nearly forgot the whole reason she had been pushing herself so hard. She needed to make sure she got the buffasaur horn for Eryll. Though admittedly she had no real idea what it looked like.

To help pass time, she decided to imagen what the mighty creature might look like. Though all she'd ever really encountered before were the mu, goblins and bats. Sometimes she'd even stumbled upon a nest of cloud bees, who really knew how to swarm together and pack a punch. She made herself laugh as she tried to imagen what the buffasaur might look like. All she knew and all that really mattered was that whatever the creature looked like, it wasn't going to be friendly. And no matter what, she would have to make sure she chopped off its horn. Because at the end of the day, Eryll's life was on the line.

As the young lilty followed the dirt path, there wasn't really much to do or see. If she looked back, she would see the town grow smaller and smaller, and if she looked forward, she could watch as the forest grew closer. If she kept walking, she would even be able to see the river. But before she was given the chance, she had reached the split the lilty man had told her about. Funny, she was pretty sure she had walked passed this area earlier. But that didn't matter right now. She made her way to what she hoped was north east, and began to search for what might be the entrance.

After walking around in circles, Meeth finally found something that could possibly be the entrance. It made her feel rather silly, there was a stream running throw a bared fence. And just off the side was a gate, which was presumably the way into the aqueducts which workers probably went through to clean the area. It was rather obvious if someone was paying attention, but clearly she had her head too far in the clouds. She sucked in a deep breath before grabbing hold of the gate and pushing it open. "Here goes nothing…" she whispered to herself. Dread was starting to kick in once more. But despite everything, she entered the unknown aqueducts.


	8. Chapter 8: Cleaning the aqueducts

**Chapter Eight: Cleaning the aqueducts**

The greenish water flowed by calmly, as the lone lilty woman pushed the gate open and walked along the stone path. As Meeth looked around, she could see nothing. It was only as she drew closer to the water, that a strange creature appeared. It bobbled up and down as it cast its spells, causing Meeth to whince in pain. She had to jab the creature several times before it yield to her blade. When the creature was defeated, she continued to walk along the path, only to be attack by a couple of mu. Meeth sighed to herself "Today's going to be a long day."

As Meeth drew closer to the creatures, one of them got the drop on her and stunned her. She was left paralysed just long enough for the pair to give her a good nip. But as soon as she was able to move, she sliced at the creatures, and they soon fell to her blade also.

On the other end of the room, was a sign placed next to a huge stone block. Clearly the block was there to prevent anyone from entering, but she needed to know why. Why would anyone want to stop people entering the aqueducts? When she turned her attention to the sign, it became all too clear, all too quickly. The sign read: 'Due to the appearance of a giant monster, a heavy block has been placed across the path. Strong persons may be able to pull the block out of the way. However, we do NOT recommend going in. It's dangerous in there. Seriously.'

Meeth sighed again "Today will definitely be a really long day." She knew now that she was almost defiantly in the right place. The buffasaur would be found somewhere in the aqueducts, and so would Eryll's cure. But there was also another problem, clearly this creature was powerful enough, that it attracted other monsters to its side. After all, the stronger the creature, the more aggressive beasts were to be found. So Meeth stretched her tiny body, before she grabbed hold of either side of the block and pulled with all her might. She was almost taken aback by how easily the block moved, but she quickly remember who strong the lilty people where, so really, it wasn't all that shocking. And just like that, Meeth entered into the next room.

As soon as Meeth walked through the archway, she was attacked by a skeleton like creature. As she looked over the creature, she wondered if they had always been a skeleton, or if perhaps, long ago, they had been like the lilty, selkie, yuke and clavat. Regardless, of whatever the answer could be, all that mattered right now, was that she dealt with the creature. Strangely enough, it too fell quickly to her blade. She then sighed once more, "If things are going to be this easy, what's the point of even fighting these guys."

As Meeth walked further into the room, she stumbled upon another sign, and it read, 'If you wish to open the door, strike this post again and again!" Seemed simple enough. She did as the sign told her, but much to her surprise, instead of the second gate opening, it remained closed. And the post pushed itself back. Meeth looked around the room, perhaps there was something else she needed to do to help open the gate. She noticed that in the far corner was another sign. Perhaps this sign would be the answer to her questions. But as she approached, the tiny and adorable mini movers appeared, clearly trying to stop her. But the poor things where far too weak. Instead of killing the poor things, she picked them up and through them into the barrel that was in the very corner.

With the army of mini movers dealt with, Meeth could once again turn her attention to the sign. Which read: 'Below the pedestal is a switch. Step on it quick when the cover goes up!'

Meeth paused for a moment. She quickly figured out that she was supposed to beat the post until the cover flew up, and then jump on the button. "Easy enough." She said to herself. So she ran over to the post, and began bashing it over and over again. Till the blue orb glowed. As soon as it began glowing, the platform flew up, revealing a huge button. Meeth ran as quickly as she could and jumped on the bottom. It made a loud clicking noise, and the gates flew open. And just like that, Meeth moved on to the next room.

Much to her surprise, this time Meeth wasn't attacked straight away. But as soon as she moved closer to the giant orb, a strange yellow creature appeared and began attacking her. She tried jabbing it a few times, in hopes of killing it, but it wasn't work, the creature didn't even seem fazed. Not to mention the amount of pain it was causing her in return. She was being backed up into a corner when it accrued to her that she could try and use magic to defeat this strange new creature. She cast her mind back to what Larkeicus had taught her, and much to her amazement, she was able to successfully cast blizzard on the creature. As soon as she released the spell, the creature let out a fellable cry, before falling to its fate.

During the battle, Meeth had been hurt rather badly, so she cast cure on herself, which quickly made her feel better. She then walked to the certain of the room, and studied the orb. Just off to the right of it was another sign. She was beginning to wonder who left all these signs lying around. Whoever they were, they had no idea how helpful these signs where. She walked over to the sign and stood in front of it to read what it had to say. The sign read: 'Cast thunder on the yellow orbs, fire on the red ones, and blizzard on the blue ones. Something good is bound to happen!'

She stared at the sign, it was strange, but never the less, she listened to what it had to say. She closed her eyes and focused on casting thunder, and after a couple of tries, she finally was able to cast it on to the yellow orb. In doing so, the orb disappeared, and lifted up the platform, revealing another hidden button. And just like before, she jumped on it, causing it to open the gate for the next room.

Instead of going straight through to the next area, she decided to look around a little. To the far right of the room was a huge stream of water, and on the edge was a staircase like design. She decided to dive head first into the water. As soon as she landed within the water, the strange water creature from earlier began attacking her. After landing the final below, she continued to swim around, till she discover a chest sitting neatly on a platform. She quickly threw the lid open and grabbed the loot, before continuing her swim.

As she got to the other half of the room, she was attacked once more by a strange looking creature, it was like the yellow one, only blue. And the creature seemed to be guarding a chest. With the desire to discover what lay inside, she decided to try and attack the creature with fire. As soon as her spell hit the creature, it cried out before disappearing, clearly she had made the right move. With the creature defeated, she grabbed the loot, swam around a little more before heading back to the staircase. When she was standing back on the stone, she headed towards the gate and entered the next area, lance in hand.

Much to her dismay, the next room seemed to be a complicated puzzle. There was a switch, plenty of platforms floating within the water, and another block just sitting there. As soon as she approached the block, a red creature appeared. She had already beaten two of these creatures with spells, so she tried casting blizzard on it, after all, ice would beat fire, right? Much to her surprise, all it did was freeze the creature for a short time. The creature seemed more agitated then hurt. So in her hurry to defeat it, she tried casting thunder, and by pure luck, it landed a hefty blow, killing the thing instantly. And with the creature now out of the way, she could fully explore the room she was now in.

The first thing to catch her eye was another chest, sitting prettily on a tower, she hoped her way up and flung it open, taking all the loot it held. Then, as she jumped down, she noticed another sign, which read: 'The aqueducts have become infest with cute little monsters. They aren't very dangerous, but they're so playful it's getting hard to clean up down here. We need adventurers to drive them out. For details, please visit the town Quest Shoppe. Posted by the Keep Our Water Clean Committee'

She started at the sign blankly, someone had left a sign about a quest within the aqueducts. She slapped her forehead, who was going to be able to read that? No one was even down here. The quest was almost never going to be completed. She figured it was probably one of the pair who had been standing by the fountain complaining about the smell. But that didn't matter right now, what mattered was solving the puzzle.

Turning her gazing back to what was important, Meeth walked over to the switch and bashed it. As soon as she did, it glowed yellow, moving a platform into place. She then hopped down and pulled the block on to the platforms. As she got to the end of the second platform, she discovered another switch. She bashed the second switch, which moved the platform she was standing on. But instead of being able to push the block along, she noticed the fact that the last platform hadn't moved an inch. So she dived into the water and swam to the other side, only to be attacked by another skeleton.

Meeth sighed loudly, "Really, how many of you monsters are down here?" Thankfully Meeth had grown stronger, so it only took a few blows before the creature fell. With it now dealt with, she strolled over to the last switch and bashed it, which finally made the last platform move. She walked on to the platform and pulled the block, before jumping across and flicking the switch. The last platform moved once more, allowing her to push the block on to a strange looking button. The button made a loud clicking noise, signalling that it had done something, though what, she wasn't sure.

Sitting next to the block, was a sign, seeing as the task was complete, she saw no reason why she shouldn't read it. The sign read: 'Many switches here are rusted shut. If stepping on them doesn't make them budge try pushing something heavy on top.'

Meeth slapped her forehead, she'd already done that, the sign was practically useless now. She decided to wonder around the other half of the room, there was a locked gate on oneside, and a raised area near the block. So she decided to walk back over to the block, jump up a little, so she caught hold of the top and then climb on top of the block. Now standing on top, she jumped a bit higher to help get hold of the edge on the ledge, and pulled herself up. Much to her relief, there, standing in front of her were a pair of open gates. She sighed with relief. And like so many times before, walked through the gates.

As soon as she entered the next room, the gates slammed shut behind her. Meeth jumped in shock. She spun on her heels and grabbed the rusty gates, trying anything she could to pull them open, but they wouldn't budge. Sighing, she realised that she was being forced to work through another puzzle. She gazed around the room, there were streams of faster moving water, and plenty of ledges. There were also the orbs from earlier, the yellow one was closest, there was also a blue one and red one on the other side. Splitting each area was a huge metal fence, if she wanted to get out, she was probably going to have to pop all the orbs. With that set in mind, she began with the closest, and casted thunder.

As she jumped across to the other side, she was attack by a little blue creature. Another one of those strange element based things, she knew from earlier that to defeat it she would need to cast fire. And just like that, it fell, allowing her to focus on the task at hand. As soon as she popped the remaining two orbs, the gates leading to the next part of the room opened. Today was turning out to be an extremely long day.

She walked towards the gates, and hopped over on to the next platform, a mu jumped out and attacked her, but thankfully it was easy to deal with. Like earlier, she had another three orbs to deal with, yellow, blue and red. And just like earlier, she popped them one by one, opening the last part of the room. She was beginning to wonder why anyone would even design an area like this. It felt more like a training ground then an aqueducts, but then again, she didn't really understand the town folk.

As she walked to the last part, she noticed a chest, and guarding it were the tiny mini movers. She picked them up, and dropped them in a small hole in the ground, preventing them from bothering her further. She then turned her attention to the chest once more and retrieved the loot.

All she had to do now, was make her way over to the last area with the strange log things. She guessed she'd have to bash them or push them in to the wall. But right now, she had to figure out how to get across. The gap was too far for her to jump, and the water was moving too fast for her to get a cross. The only thing she could do was do a running jump and hope she got lucky. She sucked in a deep breath and ran, jumped and just barely landed on the edge. She had to balance herself out, but once done, she could continue on with completing the puzzle.

As soon as she was on the other side, a strange lizard like creature appeared and began attacking her. It blocked her attack with easy, and was dealing heavy damage. She had to move to a safer distance, and cast blizzard to freeze the thing. When it was frozen, she began stabbing it with her lance, allowing her to finish it off after ten or twenty minutes. Sweat was beginning to drip down her face. But with the creature gone, she could focus once again.

In front of her was the log thing, and a sign. The sign read: 'The main gate is malfunctioning. If you became trapped inside, push this into the wall.'

Meeth rolled her eyes. But at least she knew her hunch was correct, in order to move on to the next area, she would have to push the thing into the wall. It was a little harder than the block, but it moved soon enough. Sadly this meant she would have to retrace her steps in order to leave the room. Which meant she had just waste what felt like nearly an hour or so in this area for nothing. She jumped along, all the way back to the gate she had entered through, more annoyed than ever. Today really wasn't her day.

As she left the room, into the other puzzle room, the other gate then unlocked for some reason. Apparently that room was needed after all. She was really beginning to question the people behind the design of the aqueducts. Seriously, what was the point of designing something so complicated? Nevertheless, at least this meant she could carry on with her mission. So she jumped down and headed through to what she hoped was the final area.

In the next room, as she feared, it was not the last room, and yet another puzzle. There was a shut gate, hiding a chest and some strangely large key. And then there was the blue pedestal thing from the forest. But no key like block to be found. As she walked further into the room, she was attacked by the pink little guy who could only be defeated by casting thunder. And as soon as it had been taken care of, two of the lizard like guard creatures appeared.

Meeth ran around, avoiding the creatures' attacks and casting spells to defeat them. When they finally fell, one of them dropped the key to the pedestal. She sighed, thankful that she didn't have to search for it. She then walked over to it, picked it up and lobbed it into the pedestal. As soon as it slid into place, the gates opened. She was really getting the hang of it.

As she walked through to the next area, she felt as if she had been slapped in the face. She was practically back at the beginning. Sure, she'd walked through a different gate, and yeah, there were a couple of chests for her to loot, but that didn't make up for the colossal amount of wasted time. She was just about ready to give up and head back home when she noticed that the final gate in the area had also been unlocked. She looked around, if she walked through to the next area, there could be something she'd been looking for. And besides, she'd already wasted plenty of time, did it really matter if she wasted even more by continuing to explore? With that set in mind, she decided to head into the next area with hopes of something more interesting lying within.

As luck would have it, it was another puzzle. "Why?!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. She knew she'd have to carry the giant crates and drop them on the rusted buttons in order to complete this area. And there was also another post based switch. She decided it was best to try and move all the crates on to the bottoms. She picked them up, one by one, till only two buttons remained. She had also picked up the strange lock, which she figured was what the key from earlier was needed for. But she had to focus on sorting out the puzzle.

With no more boxes around, she figured it was time to beat the post. So strolled over and began to hack away at it. As it glowed, she heard the sound of something moving. She turned her gaze, and before her saw a lift like thing with another box. She raced over and pick it up before chucking it into place. Just as it landed, the gates to the lift closed. Meaning she would have to beat the post again to get the last box. So that's exactly what she did.

Much to her surprise, things weren't going to be as easy as she believed. For in the other lift, was a skeleton defending the block. It charged at her, becoming a bit of a hassle. By time she had defeated the thing, the gate had already shut. Forcing her to beat the post up once more. Thankfully she was able to grab the last crate with easy and dump it on the button. As soon as the last button was pushed down, finally, a far louder click rang out. Clearly another gate had been opened.

Meeth ran all the way to the other side of the room, which lead to a large staircase. She climbed the steps, all the way to the top. And there, before her lay the gate she was looking for. "You better be the last area." She warned, before walking through.

She was hardly even surprised to discover the gates closed behind her as soon as she entered. But at least she was in the area with the huge key. She jumped down and grabbed it, along with the chest inside the loot, before turning her attention the button and the sign.

Meeth pushed the button, before reading the sign. The sign read: 'You can use this key to open large locks.'

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious." Meeth snapped, clearly no longer wanting to play this adventurer game. It was annoying, and she was tired. If this place didn't have the buffasaur, she was just going to have to try and find it another day. There was no way she was going to keep running around for nothing.

Meeth stormed through gate after gate, right up until she was standing in front of the huge lock. She was about to place the key inside, when she spotted the sign. Funny, she hadn't really noticed it earlier. Though she was pretty sure it was going to be useless, she couldn't help but wonder as to what it could tell her. So she decided to read it, and it read: 'Danger! Giant horned beast ahead! We REALLY recommend not opening this door, even if you do find the key. Run away! Foolhardy adventurers enter AT THEIR OWN RISK.'

A smile pealed its way on to her face. Now she understood. The reason this place had been so complicated was to try and keep people out. Anyone insane enough to make it this far, was surely going to be an adventurer. And this sign told her that a horned creature was behind this gate. Surely that would mean she'd found what she was looking for. At last, after all this time, she was finally going to be able to save Eryll. At last, she had finally found the buffasaur.

With new found desire, Meeth twisted the key in the lock, and opened the gates. Head held high, she strolled through. She looted the chest, and pushed the log things into the wall one by one. Now, finally, she was going to defeat the buffasaur. Everything she had done, had been leading up to this moment, one way or another, this creature was going down.

With her head held high, Meeth walked through the final pair of gates.


	9. Chapter 9: The buffasaur

**Chapter Nine: The buffasaur**

Walking through the gates, Meeth had no idea what to expect. She had faced so many creatures up till now. But clearly, whatever the creature was, it was more powerful than all the rest. But Meeth didn't have time to be scared. She had to make sure to do whatever it took to ensure Eryll would be ok, even if that meant her life was on the line.

As soon as she entered into the next area, a tall, black creature stood, towering over her. It glared at her with utter hatred as steam blew out of it's nose. It then began to drag one of it's feet in the dirt, as if it was about to charge at her. It let out a mighty roar, slamming it's harmer into the ground.

The roar had somehow cast some sort of shield around it, protecting it from any and all damage. Or at least that's what Meeth assumed.

The creature began to lung towards her, she just barely dived out of the way as it's hammer came crashing down, cracking the earth. Meeth stared in shock. She'd clearly under estimated the power of this mighty creature.

Pushing herself up, she forced herself to ask the creature if it was the buffasaur. It paused for a moment, growled, before lunging again. Apparently she had found what she was looking for, and this creature knew all too well what she required from it.

Each time she landed a blow, it seemed to do nothing, she was beginning to give up hope. Looking back towards the gates, she realised that there was no way out. She couldn't escape.

Lung after lung, dive after dive. Nothing was going to put this creature down. All she could do was run, and hope it would tier. If only she could freeze it somehow, or even stun it. Then it clicked, she could use magic, maybe a spell would help break though the shield.

The first spell she cast was blizzard, the freezing spell. With much needed luck, it worked. It froze the creature, allowing her to land a few good blows. For some reason or another, the shield was weak against magic. Which was just her luck, because she knew how to cast spells, even if it did take her a couple of minutes. She jabbed and slashed at the creature, hoping that somehow it would kill it, but the armour was too thick, even with all the spells she could cast, it wouldn't be enough.

The creature had managed to unfreeze itself. Now it was more angry than ever. It lifted up its huge harm and spun round, throwing Meeth across the room. It then charged at her with such speed, it could have killed her.

Meeth was thankful to have just barely dodged its attack. For reasons unknown, she was still alive. But she was too close to the creature. It lifted up its hammer, and smashed into the ground, sending Meeth flying into the air once more. She gasped, coughing up blood. Pushing herself up, she raised a shake hand, and cast fire. It burned the creature, causing it to scream out in pain. But that wasn't going to be enough. She quickly cast thunder, and by chance, it stunned the creature.

A cruel and painful smile twisted its way onto her face. She was in such unimaginable pain, but she didn't have time to heal. She need to put the creature down, and fast. She sucked in a deep breath a charged at the mighty beast, jabbing and slashing. At some point, she managed to land a blow on the strange reddish orange crystal on its back. Lava like blood spewed out. She had done it, she had found its weak point. She knew now that it would far easier to deal with this mighty beast. Every time it was able to move again, she cast another spell, whether to stun or freeze it, it didn't matter. All that matter was that she could deal with the creature. Every time it was frozen, she would chip away at the crystal on its back, causing more and more of its hot and deadly blood to pour out. However, if Meeth wasn't careful, a spark would catch her, causing a burning pain on where it landed.

After what seemed like an eternity, the creature let out one last mighty cry, before it fell. With the buffasaur defeating, it gave Meeth time to catch her breath and heal. Looking around, she finally spotted the chests. She couldn't have felt more grateful at seeing the health potions and food. Meeth greedily gobbled up the food, and rubbed the potions on her wounds. She sighed in relief as the warm fuzzy pain of the potion at work.

When all the wounds had healed up, Meeth was forced to turn her attention back the creature laying before her. Now all she had to do was chop off the horns and carry them back to town. She knew she only needed one, but decided to take them both, after all, there was no telling when she would have to find another horn.

Removing the horns was a lot harder the she thought. They were stubborn, and wouldn't budge. Plus Meeth only had her the axe head, to remove these things. She knew it would be a lot easier if she had a knife or something, but she didn't. Nevertheless, she continued to chip away, till finally, the first one fell off. But she didn't stop there, she then turned her attention to the second one.

An hour or so had probably passed before Meeth had managed to get both the horns. The result was her body aching in areas she didn't even know existed. She panted heavily, as she sat on top of the fallen beast. Her clothes were drenched in blood and sweat. She probably smell rather foul, but that didn't matter.

She decided to take a moment to add more to her beloved book, so with a shaky hand, reached into her pocket and pulled it out. She was on the fourth page now, and decided to write down the sentence 'I found the Buffasaur and got its horn! But now all my clothes are super stinky!' She then drew a picture of the creature at the bottom of the page. It was funny really, how she seemed to spend more time drawing then writing in her book. She'd drawn the helmet of the giant machine, a pretty picture of her crystal, and even a rough sketch of the location of the sewers from town. One of these days she would probably have to draw a proper map, but right now, she has content with what she'd gotten so far.

With the drawing complete, Meeth decided it was time she head on back to the library. She put her book away, and picked up the two giant horns. As she left the aqueducts, the monsters seemed to avoid her, apparently they knew better than to mess with her now.

And just like that, Meeth walked all the way back to town, carrying two ridiculously huge and heavy horns.


	10. Chapter 10: Back to the library

**Chapter 10: Back to the library**

Dragging the horns across the bridge did not go unnoticed. Especially with the fact that they were easily the same size as her. The yuke scholar and selkie treasure hunter stared at her, mouths open wide as she passed them both. Though she would love to have had a brief moment to explain the situation, her time was running out. It would have to be a story for another day.

Meeth continued to drag the horns through town. She was too exhausted to carry them now. Upon arriving at the foot of the first stair case, she sighed heavily. She knew she'd have to carry them up the stairs. "Nearly there." She muttered to herself in hopes to egg herself on. It took about ten minutes for her to climb to the top of the stairs with the horns. And she knew all too well her trouble didn't end there.

In the town square, she returned to dragging the horns briefly. The young clavat girl and green haired selkie watched with amazement as she continued to walk. The further she moved, the more eyes fell upon her. Audible gasps wrung out as she picked up the horns once more to get them passed the second stair case. And again when she reached the third and final staircase, heaving the huge horn across the stone pathway into the library. She was probably going to have a lot of explaining to do later.

Once inside the library, she continued to work her way to Larkeicus's desk. Despite the racket outside, he seemed too distracted by the book he was reading to notice her approach. It wasn't till she finally released her grasp on the horns that he turned round to face her.

He turned around with a grin upon his face, "Ah, it is you. I have finished my preparations, and I have all the ingredients I need except…" He looked down at the ground in front of him. "Ah, you have found a Buffasaur horn?" he asked more to himself then to Meeth.

Meeth nodded, covered in sweat and grim. She really hoped she had the horn any way. After all, she'd been dragging two of them the entire way back to town.

He looked them over, before finally speaking up. "Ja, ja, that is the horn, no doubt about it. Now, just vait one moment." He then pulled out a knife and chipped off a tiny bit. It was so small it could have been held with two fingers. He then turned to face his desk once more, mixing the ingredients together.

Meeth's jaw dropped. She'd lugged two huge horns all the way here. Only for the tiniest bit to be used. She almost cursed. Of course she would go through all the pain and effort, only to need the smallest bit. If she'd known how little she needed. She would have just chipped a bit off, instead of killing the thing.

A loud explosion brought her back to the real world. Larkeicus mumbled to himself before spinning round to face her. He handed her a small vile. "And there you go. This medicine vill cure your friend's crystal sickness." He declared with pride.

Meeth took the vile, before looking back up at him in amazement. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" She quickly put it in to her pocket. Looking at him again, practically in tears, she asked "What is it you need me to do? I'll do anything you ask! Anything at all!" She was so grateful; she could hardly contain herself.

The old man chuckled at her. "A sick child is vaiting for you in your village, ja? Go now and take the medicine to her." Shooing her towards the doors. "Come and see me tomorrow. Ve'll talk about vhat you can do for me in return."

Meeth bowed her head over and over again "Yes! Thank you! Thank you so much!" She nearly left before she remembered the two huge horns. Knowing they'd probably do more good in her village. She quickly ran back, picked them up and legged it out of the library.

Perhaps because she finally had what she'd been after, but she was filled with so much energy, that she wasn't even aware how heavy the horns were anymore. She skipped threw town, carrying the Buffasaur horns with great easy. Down all the steps, passed all the gapping mouths without a care in the world.

It wasn't until Meeth had left the town that she decided she needed to quickly add something to her little journal. So she quickly plopped the horns down and pulled it out. On the page she dubbed as the fifth page, she scribbled the words "The old man in the library gave me the medicine." She then thought for a moment, before quickly adding "I hope Eryll is still okay. I've got to get back to the village, and fast!" And just like that, she put the book away, picked up the horns and continued to make her way all the way back to the village.

As Meeth made her way back, she was rather thankful for how large the forest was. She could see it from the town. So finding her way back home proved little difficulty for her. Even as she made her way through the forest, it all seemed to go quite well. Finally, she approached the path which lead into the village.

As she walked into the village, she finally dropped the horns on the floor again, before approaching Sherlotta, who was standing outside of Eryll's hut's door. As Meeth approached her, she turned and looked stunned. "Whoa, are you okay? You look as if you just ran a marathon!" She remarked, before checking Meeth over.

Meeth sighed, before revealing the vile which held the cure to the crystal sickness.

Sherlotta froze in shock. "Is that…?" She began, before taking a closer look. "It is, isn't it!?" She grabbed Meeth's arm before turning to the oak door. "Hey, Lian, she did it! Meeth brought the medicine!" she yelled.

From behind the door, was an excited yet weary voice. "R-really?" Before sounds of running could be heard. The door then swung open, Lian egged them inside. "Well don't just stand there, come on in!" he exclaimed.

Sherlotta walked towards the door, dragging Meeth along with her.

Inside the house, a glowing Eryll could be found in bed with a stripped green cover over her. A bouquet of beautiful red flowers sat neatly in a vase on her bedside table.

Sherlotta was momentarily taken back by the condition Eryll was in. The poor girl looked awful. She slowly walked to the furthest side of Eryll's bedside so as to be able to comfort Eryll without getting in Lian's way.

Lian took the medicine off of Meeth, before running into the tiny kitchen and pouring it into a wooden bowl. He then raced back over to Eryll's side. "Here, Eryll, take this medicine." He whispered. Before hovering the bowl over her and pouring it into her mouth.

Young Eryll's body was almost transparent. But as she drank the medicine, her body began to glow brighter. Lian and Sherlotta's face were stern with concern.

Finally, Lian broke the silence, "Eryll?" a huge unsure grin peeled it's way onto his face.

The glowing began to fade away, and Eryll's appearance returned to normal. She opened her eyes and she pushed herself up right. "Hey, Lian. What happened?"

Lian took a step back, his grin only getting wider. He then embraced his beloved little sister. "Hey, you're better!" He yelled. "You're all better!" He repeated, sounding as if her was about to cry.

Eryll wiggled about, trying to get away. "Lian, you're squeezing too hard." She moaned.

Sherlotta giggled to herself, smiling over them proudly. She was as relieved as Lian was to discover that little Eryll was ok. She quietly turned to face Meeth, grinning only wider. She walked over to Meeth and said "Let's leave them be."

Meeth grinned back sheepishly, before nodding her head. There was always the chance to check up on Eryll tomorrow. But for now, Lian clearly needed to spend some time alone with her. They gave Lian a pat on the shoulder, before heading towards the door. Upon leaving the little cottage, Sherlotta and Meeth then made their way towards their own.

Once inside, Sherlotta mentioned that Meeth could do with a bath. To which Meeth simply laughed, but agreed. And just like that, after a bath, and a nice hot meal, her sixteenth birthday came to an end. Part of her felt relieved that the day had finally come to an end. She was totally and utterly exhausted. All she could do was hope that tomorrow would be slightly easier. With that thought in mind, Meeth stumbled over to her bed, pulled back the covers and flopped herself into the sheets. As soon as she placed her head on her pillow, she fell into a deep sleep. She slept soundly that night. And in her sleep, she found herself almost wishing that tomorrow would never come.


End file.
